Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Looking At Flying Saucer Water Tanks In Hurst While Waiting For A Little Hotpepper

Around noon I was sitting on a bench next to the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Hurst, waiting for Elsie Hotpepper's little sister to show up so we could go have lunch at the Panera Bread that is on the north end of the Wal-Mart parking lot.

I looked up and saw the blue flying saucer structure you see in the picture.

It is a Hurst, Texas water tower. There are dozens upon dozens of various forms of these structures in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

You reading this who live in the D/FW zone, or in Texas, are likely thinking, so what? You reading this in other locations, like the state of Washington, for instance, are likely thinking, how bizarre.

You see, Washingtonians, there are no mountains here, some slight hills, but no mountains. So, water has to be pumped up to a tank hovering above where it is to be delivered, so that gravity can do the delivering. I have no idea where the massive pumps are located that pump the water up in these tanks.

When I lived in Washington, in the town of Mount Vernon, water came from a protected reservoir/lake called Judy Reservoir. This reservoir is surrounded by chain link fence, with, if I remember right, concertina wire at the top.

My memory of things in Washington grows hazy, but I believe Judy Reservoir supplied the water needs of several Skagit Valley towns, besides Mount Vernon.

Except for Anacortes. Anacortes sucked its water out of the Skagit River, treated it, and then pumped it to Anacortes. There are hills around Anacortes, more hilly than hills here in Texas, but, I don't think the water is pumped up to a storage lake on a hill. I remember no big water tanks in Anacortes, like I see in Texas.

So, how did that water move to homes in Anacortes, without the Texas style giant flying saucer water tanks?

Very perplexing.

Anyway, as I sat pondering my perplexation, Elsie Hotpepper's little sister, Kelsie, showed up. At Panera Bread we both had the Signature Macaroni & Cheese with a Bacon Turkey Bravo Sandwich. It was good. But I like my own cooking better. Kelsie does not have quite the colorful vocabulary of her older sister, in case you are wondering.

5 comments:

Steve A said...

The Marysville water tower looks like the one in Keller. Admittedly water towers are not as noticeable in Washington, but they're around there as well. There is a photo of the Marysville water tower in Wikipedia.

Durango said...

Steve A, my sister lived in Marysville before moving to Phoenix. Can't picture a water tower, but it's the sort of thing I wouldn't notice til I had a reason to do so. I'm guessing Anacortes must have one too. Can't picture where. I think I've seen the Keller water tower. Does not look so much like a flying saucer, if I'm remembering right.

Steve A said...

Both those water towers look more like rocket nose cones than flying saucers. Hmm, still space oriented. The Marysville one is just east of I-5 and may be seen at

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marysville%2C_WA_water_tower.jpg?wasRedirected=true

BTW, the Marysville one is decorative nowadays.
I'm not sure about its Keller cousin. I don't remember any in Anacortes either but who knows? Those rocket scientists can be tricky.

Durango said...

Now that you've shown me the Marysville Water Tower, I recognize it. I never knew it was a water tower. Probably never wondered what it was. Not as massive and futuristic looking as most of the Texas towers.

Woolysheep said...

Small towns in Texas still have towers like the Marysville one. I know Granbury, Texas had one as of last summer. It used to have two like that but the one by the cemetery got torn down a few years back.