Infrastructure is what we usually don’t see.
Water is a good example. It is brought to the point of use in pipes and under pressure. If all is working well, the water will be fit to drink. And not only fit to drink, but non-corrosive and non-scale forming. These last two properties of great value to the user. Nothing worse than replacing geyser elements every other month.
But wait there is more.
Once the water is delivered to the point of use, it is taken away again. If not used locally as grey water irrigation, the spent water is flushed away, out of site and out of mind. A veritable network of drain pipes transport used water to the local sewage works. And because gravity flow only works in one direction, there will inevitably be a collection of pump stations, lifting and pressing the waste water to its treatment destination.
And even more.
Rainwater falling on roofs and roads can accumulate, quickly forming a torrent. Gutters, road curbs and storm drain pipes transport all this clean water to a river or the sea. In South Africa, storm water is not taken to the local sewage works.
Hats of to the Municipal teams who choreograph all these flows. If any link in the water chain is broken, we the consumer, feel the effects almost instantaneously.
