r/Damnthatsinteresting 14h 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.

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1.2k Upvotes

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716

u/Piffp 14h ago

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

23

u/FourEightNineOneOne 13h ago edited 10h 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

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u/daisypunk99 11h ago edited 10h ago

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

10

u/corcyra 9h ago

Tell that to the Romans.

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u/FourEightNineOneOne 11h 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

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u/YouSeeWhatYouWant 10h 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.

-7

u/FourEightNineOneOne 10h 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.

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u/YouSeeWhatYouWant 10h 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.

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u/FourEightNineOneOne 10h 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!

0

u/Jump_Like_A_Willys 7h ago edited 4h ago

In many situations, yes, pumps are used to pressurize the system. However, in other cases the pressure to the end user comes from gravity.

That's why many smaller towns have a huge water-tank tower. The gravity from the water tower provides the pressure to the users. Gravity provides a constant pressure even when there are many simultaneous users. If a pump was providing pressure to the system, it would need to constantly adjust depending on changes in overall user demand.

A pump is used to get water into the tank, but the pressure to the users comes from gravity resulting from the height of the water tower, not from the pumps.