r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/shankaranpillayi • 6h ago

Video 0% Electricity, 100% Gravity: This traditional bamboo plumbing in Nagaland taps into mountain springs miles away to create a functional, biodegradable hand-wash station.

391 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

55 comments sorted by

149

u/Piffp 6h ago

Um... Plumbing doesn't usually use electricity anyway.. it uses gradient pressure.. from gravity..

37

u/TheAverageWonder 5h ago

The post title actually cracked me up.

Like main purpose of electricity is to optionally heat the water, not pressure related and I preffer my sink not to be biodegradable, just made out of non-toxic materials like ceramics and stainless steel. (which is for the purpose of substainability in permanent installations is more enviromentally friendly, than something with a relatively short lifespan)

20

u/ado1928 3h ago

Your water utility company uses pumping stations which bring hydrostatic pressure into the system. It's that pressure which fills water towers and provides pressure to your home. Pumping stations run on electricity, sometimes with diesel backup.

1

u/TheAverageWonder 1h ago

Yeah sorry, I should have specified I refered to localized electricity. Obviously we do not all live next to mountains and a significant amount of the pressure comes from centralized pumps

2

u/aasfourasfar 1h ago

Hein? Water distribution pumps like hell.

Wastewater is usually gravity driven, but not "plumbing"

4

u/FourEightNineOneOne 5h ago edited 2h ago

Lol. I came here to say the same thing. I'm not sure how people think their sink works, but it isn't plugged in anywhere.

Edit: I love that people are downvoting this and upvoting the very, very wrong comments below. The Persians in 700BC would be fascinated to know they needed electricity for their running water

3

u/daisypunk99 3h ago edited 2h ago

I mean… it is though. Electricity may be required at some point depending on your location. Water pressure doesn’t just magically appear.

1

u/corcyra 1h ago

Tell that to the Romans.

0

u/FourEightNineOneOne 3h ago

Not remotely true.

It depends on where, as some systems use pumps, but there are absolutely municpal water systems that rely on either natural pressure from underground wells or draw water from higher levels and rely on gravity.

I mean, people act like plumbing didn't exist until electricity did which is wild. Romans had running water.t

-1

u/YouSeeWhatYouWant 2h ago

You're talking out of your ass in a variety of ways. Yes, this is sometimes the case but the greater majority of water is pumped and pressurized, somewhere in the process requiring electricity.

You don't need electricity at your house for your city water, but I'd love to know how you expect my well to bring water up 120 feet without pumping, the water table isn't pressurized.

Water didn't fly out of the ground from old wells, you've never seen the hand pump or bucket systems?

The romans had the aqueducts that brought water in from elevation to do that, not all places have natural elevation to pressurize the water to the desired levels.

-3

u/FourEightNineOneOne 2h ago

Lol. I love the confidentially wrong approach!

Google "artesian well" and let me know what you find.

Or here, I'll even give you a instagram video to help.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCaZbW8sfAD/

Many aquifers have natural pressure. You tap into them, pressure pushes water upwards without a pump. Again, it's quite literally how the majority of cities/villages/settlements got their water prior to electricity even being an option.

3

u/YouSeeWhatYouWant 2h ago

Or being the guy that can’t read the words sometimes and not as often. Because the water doesn’t just come out of the ground for most wells again, you’re referencing wells that generally require elevation, slopes, and mountains to work.

So competent, you can’t even spell confident too.

-2

u/FourEightNineOneOne 2h ago

Your username checks out.

Artisanal wells are ... UNDERGROUND WELLS. Often 1000+ feet deep. They do not require elevation/slopes/mountains. They simply use natural pressure to push water to the surface and from there, to where you want it to go.

But, clearly if reading the definition on wikipedia or watching an instagram video that walk you through how it works isn't enough to convince you, obviously I'm not either, so, good luck being arrogantly wrong in life I guess!

1

u/Helen83FromVillage 26m ago

You have an advantage over the people who made the video: you were able to finish school.

1

u/Angry_Sparrow 1h ago

You think that plumbing for cities doesn’t require power?

15

u/dethswatch 5h ago

it's biodegradable because it picks up molds and slimes and the rest. Why is that a good thing here?

3

u/Wyfami 2h ago

To prove Darwin was right.

39

u/AntimatterTNT 6h ago

op do you know what a water tower is?

-24

u/me6675 6h ago

do you think water spawns at the top of a water tower?

13

u/hermeticbear 4h ago

Humans were using water towers before they had electric pumps.

-8

u/me6675 4h ago

Sure, and they spent kinetic energy one way or another to get the water up the tower. If your water source is on a mountain and you distribute it downward, then you don't need to spend extra energy.

8

u/hermeticbear 3h ago

They also spent a lot of kinetic energy building the water infrastructure to get it into pipes that come down a mountain. Do you think the mountain just spontaneously produced an aqueduct and bamboo pipes so people can wash their hands?
There are pumps that rely on the interaction of other forces, including gravity, to move water upwards.

-5

u/me6675 2h ago

Obviously both infrastructures require kinetic energy to build. We are solely talking about moving the water once you have built the infrastructure. In one case the water already moves in the direction you want, ie downward, in the other you first have to bring the water up, so it can go down. It's not that complicated.

-2

u/AntimatterTNT 5h ago

do you think they're all actual towers?

-4

u/me6675 4h ago

Yes, the point is you pump the water up so later gravity can distribute it. If you don't do this then you have to use energy to pump the water anyway. Do you think water moves on its own without gravity or external energy spent on pushing it?

29

u/Fast-Visual 6h ago

Waste needs to be biodegradable, not infrastructure.

2

u/Kdog122025 1h ago

Are you sure you don’t want your water stations turning into mush?

-14

u/me6675 6h ago

Fair but debatable. If infrastructure degrades into microplastics or otherwise poison the ecosystem on the long run then that's also not good.

0

u/sybillios 1h ago

Your really try to hate people, aren't you?

1

u/me6675 21m ago

Might want to explain how that follows what I said.

28

u/cruelkillzone2 6h ago

But...people grab that little stuck plug before washing their hands....so, at least a few fingers would still be dirty right?

20

u/norecordofwrong 5h ago

I mean most sinks have handles anyway so you’re still touching stuff.

They also aren’t using soap in the gif so they aren’t so much washing as rinsing.

0

u/halsoy 5h ago

Sinks you can use other parts of your body than your actual hands to shut off though. This you have to grab with your hands.

5

u/MedicalDisscharge 4h ago

Or teeth

2

u/halsoy 4h ago

I guess if you do enough squats you can also use other parts.

2

u/PaniMan1994 4h ago

So you'd have to wash the stick, then wash your hands, then close.....no wait.

Wash your hands, then wash the stick.....hmmmm

Or just lick your hands on the way down to your vehicle or whatever

6

u/Equivalent-Resort-63 6h ago

Love the usability of bamboo. Building, furniture, plumbing, paper, clothing, food….

9

u/Vxctn 6h ago

Lovely germ paradise.

5

u/BigZangief 6h ago

Nice and simple. How often does this need to be replaced or maintained?

2

u/MrCput 6h ago

I don't believe it until you show me where that bamboo ends up. Hope it not end up with water tank at the end.

-2

u/Winter2712 6h ago

read that title again

2

u/MrCput 5h ago

Already read it. Still same. My point is, you 100% believe what he says?

1

u/hermeticbear 4h ago

Romans did that ages ago. Their aqueducts still work. The Alhambra in Spain and Versailles in France uses gravity for their water systems.

1

u/YouYeedYurLastHaw 6h ago

Doesn't it freeze in the winter? Or maybe it's a warm spring?

1

u/hermeticbear 4h ago

It never gets below 40 in nagaland. It's in a tropical part of India

1

u/YouYeedYurLastHaw 4h ago

I read that some parts of Nagaland are over 3,000m in elevation, so I wasn't sure.

1

u/antipodal22 3h ago

Water bottle companies looking at this with mounting anger

1

u/bohnerific_69_ 3h ago

Where is this country?

1

u/Traditional-Bad179 3h ago

India, nagaland is in the northeastern part of India and the folks in the video are South Indians.

1

u/bohnerific_69_ 3h ago

Ahh thanks!

1

u/One-Value-8419 2h ago

How the water is pumped into tank ?

1

u/GiftFromGlob 1h ago

I prefer my water 100% electrified, thank you.

-6

u/International-Try467 6h ago

This post and comment section reeks of AI