My response, “Water does not naturally run up.” They are meant to equalize the water pressure for building six floors or more so that one can flush ones toilet. This is just one of their purposes.
Peppered along the skyline throughout The City, these rustic water tanks or cisterns seem a thing of the past but this is not the case. Started by a barrel maker in the 1800s, as building were getting taller, they continue to be manufactured today.
Built like a barrel, the wood is a natural insulator and fitted together in a tongue and grove fashion so that no nails are used to puncture the shell. Instead, metal tape or cables wraps the exterior, tightly wound at the bottom to top creating a compression system. Water fills the wooden structure making the wood panels swell naturally becoming watertight.
To me, I find them to be an urban, romantic element of the place I call home and sometimes, when something is technologically sound, change is not necessary. As they say, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” If it leaks, time for a new one.
Two companies continue to manufacture and maintain over 10,000 to 15,000 tanks throughout the city, Rosenwach Tanks and Isseks Brothers.
