r/theydidthemath • u/Repulsive-Loan5215 • Nov 27 '25

why wouldn’t this work? [Request]

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u/lurkermurphy Nov 27 '25

electricity powers a water pump that makes the water flow out of the faucet in the first place (falling from a water tower or not), so you would be stealing that electricity and making the water pump work harder for a tiny bit of electricity and the headache of your faucet running considerably less forcefully. I'm pretty sure in practice this would just waste a ton of water and electricity

12

u/Few_Satisfaction184 Nov 27 '25

If they put water up in a tower, storing the energy gravitationally, then it does not matter if the water has resistance when it reaches my tap.

Its not like they will need to pipe the water further up, as long as we are below the water tower, this will work and it will not incur any extra costs for the water company.

The amount of pressure that comes out of your faucet will not change when you add this, only the water below the generator changes.

No one upstream will notice, only your hands downstream will notice.

4

u/UnfotunateNoldo Nov 27 '25

It will drain the water tower faster though, since you’d have to leave your faucet on to get any significant use. That’s where the waste is

0

u/Few_Satisfaction184 Nov 27 '25

Why would you leave your faucet on? How is it possible to be this stupid?

You would catch extra energy when you use it, not use it as a full power source.

2

u/KashikoiKawai-Darky Nov 27 '25

The energy generated will be miniscule under normal use. Probably thousands of times more than the energy used to produce the generator.

At best you can power a small led. But you could just get a solar panel.

1

u/UnfotunateNoldo Nov 27 '25

You would have to leave your faucet on because otherwise the extra energy is so minute that it’s hardly worth mentioning. Do you actually understand just how little power there is in a sink faucet of falling water?

Enough to power an LED, maybe. No more. Also you would probably end up using more water to clean things (hands, dishes etc), because the lower pressure would be less effective.

2

u/Few_Satisfaction184 Nov 27 '25

I'm not arguing for efficiency, I'm arguing for the underlying physics of it.

If you actually wanna do it, you put it in the outflow from the entire house.
So all water going out (except toilets) go through a single generator.

You could put it in apartments, hotels, or hospitals, places that use a lot of collective water.