# Why do water tanks here need to be cleaned twice a year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Living in Taiwan\ **Tags:** science\ **Created:** [December 20, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198 "2023-12-20T15:09:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yam](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/yam/32/149941_2.png) [@yam](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/yam)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/1 "2023-12-20T15:09:51Z")
Our building just did one of their 2x/year cleanings of the water tank on the roof. Each time, they shut our water off for a few hours, and then for a couple days afterwards we experience low water pressure. Towns in the US have water towers which serve a similar purpose of providing water pressure but on a bigger scale. I don’t remember ever having our water turned off in order to service these towers. So, two questions: 1. Why do the Taiwan tanks need cleanings 2x/year? Is it a difference in the water, the tanks, both, or something else? 2. Why does it take so long for water pressure to come back? Is it really possible that the pumps are just that slow, and if so how can they keep up with normal water demand? ---
**Author:** ![Taiwan\_Luthiers](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Taiwan\_Luthiers](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Taiwan_Luthiers)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/2 "2023-12-20T15:36:07Z")
I guess because even with the water chlorinated stuff do build up, algae and all that, not to mention random crap that might end up in there. Sometimes people fall in and end up sleeping with the fishes… so if your water starts coming off weird… better call the police. In the US the water tower service the entire town and so they can manage that better for cleanings (this is my guess). Last question is because yes, pumps aren’t that fast. I mean you seen the pipe diameter of those pump as well as the supply pipe? There’s only so much volume they will support. The water tank is quite large, so can meet normal demand provided there isn’t a terrible leak. The water tank serve a building, not an entire community. If the cleaning interruption is a problem have multiple water tanks that are cleaned at different times. ---
**Author:** ![Andrew](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/andrew/32/179806_2.png) [@Andrew](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Andrew)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/3 "2023-12-20T15:44:54Z")
I would have thought the water pressure under identical conditions would be slightly higher after cleaning, if anything. But I guess they empty the tank to clean it, so it takes a while to fill up to maximum again (pressure being a function of height). I doubt those pumps are particularly fast, but a couple of days of low pressure sounds surprisingly slow. ---
**Author:** ![afterspivak](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ccd318/32.png) [@afterspivak](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/afterspivak)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/4 "2023-12-20T21:20:01Z")
> [@yam](#): > > Our building just did one of their 2x/year cleanings of the water tank on the roof. This is good news. Someone actually cares about this issue in your building! The _bad news_ places simply never clean those tanks. 🤮 Guy ---
**Author:** ![Brianjones](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@Brianjones](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Brianjones)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/5 "2023-12-20T22:51:31Z")
Cleaning twice a year is good. particles will build up in the tank not to mention any animal or anything that could fall in. ---
**Author:** ![bdog](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@bdog](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/bdog)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/6 "2023-12-20T22:58:21Z")
Replace water with beer for the two days before it comes back online. ---
**Author:** ![user86](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/u/2acd7d/32.png) [@user86](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/user86)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/7 "2023-12-20T23:23:31Z")
> [@yam](#): > > I don’t remember ever having our water turned off in order to service these towers. Most water towers in the US are only cleaned once or twice in a decade (usually without any notice), so they often have a foot of sediment and buildup at the bottom. That’s why more educated people in the US nowadays don’t like to drink directly from the faucet. ---
**Author:** ![Ducked](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@Ducked](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Ducked)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/8 "2023-12-20T23:32:54Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/eBI7UgUeVig/hqdefault.jpg "Pulse Original Trailer (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2001)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBI7UgUeVig) There’s a Hollywood remake, that I havn’t seen. But the IRL incident was in the US. > **[Death of Elisa Lam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Elisa_Lam)** > > On February 19, 2013, the body of Canadian tourist Elisa Lam (Chinese: 藍可兒; born as Lam Ho-yi was recovered from a large cistern atop the Stay on Main hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, where she had been a guest. She was last seen alive on January 31 and was reported missing by her parents on February 1. Her body was discovered by a hotel maintenance worker investigating complaints of flooding and low water pressure. > Interest in Lam's disappearance increased on February 13 when the Los Angeles ... ---
**Author:** ![yam](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/yam/32/149941_2.png) [@yam](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/yam)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 8:44am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/9 "2023-12-21T08:44:57Z")
> [@Andrew](#): > > I doubt those pumps are particularly fast, but a couple of days of low pressure sounds surprisingly slow. Surprisingly this time full water pressure came back after about 6 hours all of a sudden. So I guess the pumps aren’t as slow as I thought. > [@Brianjones](#): > > not to mention any animal or anything that could fall in. How could anything fall in (at least anything large)? Isn’t it enclosed…? > [@afterspivak](#): > > The _bad news_ places simply never clean those tanks. 🤮 I guess my takeaway from this is to ask more questions about the water the next time I’m in the US 😅 ---
**Author:** ![Taiwan\_Luthiers](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Taiwan\_Luthiers](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Taiwan_Luthiers)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 8:47am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/10 "2023-12-21T08:47:12Z")
Well ask flint, mi. ---
**Author:** ![Brianjones](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@Brianjones](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Brianjones)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 9:27am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/11 "2023-12-21T09:27:11Z")
I guess they are supposed to be enclosed but what kind of cover do they have and you know accidents happen. ---
**Author:** ![Andrew](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/andrew/32/179806_2.png) [@Andrew](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Andrew)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/why-do-water-tanks-here-need-to-be-cleaned-twice-a-year/236198/12 "2024-04-17T14:42:34Z")
Is there something specific people are supposed to do after having their water tanks cleaned? I think mine were done today judging from this sign downstairs: ![PXL_20240415_112548194_cr](https://forumosauploads-12829.kxcdn.com/original/3X/7/c/7c2b3584c6964e68bc91647a3de0e63fc5462f50.jpeg) I’ve run the water for a bit (not ages, probably like 5–10 min in total) since then and don’t see or smell anything out of the ordinary, so I guess it’s fine to use the water again as normal now? I do have an in-line drinking water filter, which I haven’t reopened the valve to yet in case there’s anything in the pipes that could damage the sorbent resin inside.