Water Towers USA

a compendium of elevated water storage structures

My interest in water towers dates back to around 1960, when I was a kid in Seattle.
I remember my dad pointing to a white oval concrete tank with legs and telling us kids it was a "Texas Water Tower".
We stared in awe, wondering about a land where water towers looked like flying saucers.

My interest was rekindled recently when I moved from Dallas to McKinney, Texas.
Instead of the glass and steel skyscrapers of downtown Dallas, my landmarks are dozens of water towers dotting the prairies of Collin County.
I started going nuts trying to find them all.
Here are a few photos from fans of water towers.

Site maintained by Marcia Cirillo
Last updated October 15, 2007

Right now I have photos from just a few states

(send me more!)
ALABAMA ALASKA ARIZONA ARKANSAS CALIFORNIA COLORADO CONNECTICUT
DELAWARE FLORIDA GEORGIA HAWAII IDAHO ILLINOIS INDIANA
IOWA KANSAS KENTUCKY LOUISIANA MAINE MASSACHUSETTS MARYLAND
MICHIGAN MINNESOTA MISSISSIPPI MISSOURI MONTANA NEBRASKA NEVADA
NEW HAMPSHIRE NEW JERSEY NEW MEXICO NEW YORK NORTH CAROLINA NORTH DAKOTA OHIO
OKLAHOMA OREGON PENNSYLVANIA RHODE ISLAND SOUTH CAROLINA SOUTH DAKOTA TENNESSEE
TEXAS UTAH VERMONT VIRGINIA WASHINGTON WASHINGTON D.C. WEST VIRGINIA
WISCONSIN WYOMING

some water tower-related terms:

Tin Man -- the Classic Water Tower, "old time" metal tank of plates riveted together with a funnel-like "tin man hat"
Multi-Column Tank -- post-WWII tank of welded steel, almost round, often with four legs and a catwalk surrounding the tank
Geospheroid -- metal tank looks like a golfball on a tee
Hydropillar or Hydroped -- mushroom-like tower usually all-steel, all-welded with large-diameter center support column,
often with vertical flutes. The pedestal's interior can be configured to be used as offices, for storage,
or as a pump or fire-station. Smaller Hydropillars may be shaped like a wine glass
Composite -- similar to hydropillar but tank is of steel and pedestal is made of concrete
Waterspheroids - another golfball-on-a-tee develeoped by CBI in 1954 similar to its Watersphere tank
Standpipe -- a ground-level storage tank taller than it is wide
Reservoir -- a ground-level storage tank wider than it is tall
Torospheroid or Toropillar - what I think of as a "Texas" water tower or "mother ship", elevated steel tank with many legs
Double Ellipsoid - elevated steel tank with legs
Pedestal Spheroid - a hydropillar

Links

How Water Towers Work

Thanks to John Cirillo, Sonya Cirillo, and David Aldred for their contributions
Photos are the property of the photographers and may not be used without permission

I welcome photo contributions. if you'd like to submit a photo,