Carl Smith said:
What's the deal with plumbing? It's like a circuit board with a
power supply that has no line or load regulation, no filter
capacitors, traces too small to handle the necessary current,
and no bypass capacitors.
It's not quite as bad as you're saying... back at the pumping station, there's
certainly regulation, and there is a tiny amount of filtering (those water
hammer prevention tubes). I'd say it'd more like a board that has long leads
(inductance) going back to a reasonably good, regulated power supply... but no
point-of-load regulation (other than by you turning valves!). As for traces
too small to handle the current... this is often a historical problem, where
systems designed for small communities end up being overloaded when the
population explodes, or when the pipes become gummed up throughout your house
or start springing leaks. (There are cities where for every gallon put into
the system, a shocking small fraction comes out -- like 1/2! -- the rest being
lost to leakage.)
I believe there are plenty of fancy devices for plumbing to keep everything
kopesetic under varying conditions, but of course these devices cost money,
and in some cases are difficult to implement without control electronics as
well (and historically it seems that plumbers and electricians don't always
talk to each other than much!). It does seem that developed countries outside
the U.S. have slightly more sophisticated plumbing... some have incoming "high
pressure" lines that are used for things like washing machines, dishwashers,
sprinklers, etc., but then split off a regulated lower pressure line for
faucets; you have to be careful to buy the right faucet in stores, as many
can't be used directly off the high pressure line. Someone from overseas can
clue me in more here...