Since the pressure borne by 1 square foot of surface is 62.5 pounds, the pressure supported by 1 square inch of surface is 1/144 of 62.5 pounds, or .43 pound, nearly 1/2 pound. Suppose a vessel held water to the depth of 10 feet, then upon every square inch of the bottom of that vessel there would be a pressure of 4.34 pounds. If a one-inch tap were inserted in the bottom of the vessel so that the water flowed out, it would gush forth with a force of 4.34 pounds. If the water were 20 feet deep, the force of the outflowing water would be twice as strong, because the pressure would be doubled. But the flow would not remain constant, because as the water leaves the outlet, less and less of it remains in the vessel, and hence the pressure gradually sinks and the flow drops correspondingly.
FIG. 150.—The pressure at an outlet decreases as the level of the water supply sinks.
In seasons of prolonged drought, the streams which feed a city reservoir are apt to contain less than the usual amount of water, hence the level of the water supply sinks, the pressure at the outlet falls, and the force of the outflowing water is lessened (Fig. 150).
196. Why the Water Supply is not uniform in All Parts of the City. In the preceding Section, we saw that the flow from a faucet depends upon the height of the reserve water above the tap. Houses on a level with the main supply pipes (Figs. 148 and 151) have a strong flow because the water is under the pressure of a column A; houses situated on elevation B have less flow, because the water is under the pressure of a shorter column B; and houses at a considerable elevation C have a less rapid flow corresponding to the diminished depth (C).
Not only does the flow vary with the elevation of the house, but it varies with the location of the faucet within the house. Unless the reservoir is very high, or the pumps very powerful, the flow on the upper floors is noticeably less than that in the cellar, and in the upper stories of some high building the flow is scarcely more than a feeble trickle.
FIG. 151.—Water pressure varies in different parts of a water system.
When the respective flows at A, B, and C (Fig. 151) are measured, they are found to be far lower than the pressures which columns of water of the heights A, B, and C have been shown by actual demonstration to exert. This is because water, in flowing from place to place, expends force in overcoming the friction of the pipes and the resistance of the air. The greater the distance traversed by the water in its journey from reservoir to faucet, the greater the waste force and the less the final flow.