The World's Tallest Water Sphere

Be sure to read today’s (2012/02/22) issue of The Star-Ledger to read Lisa Rose’s interview, see Jennifer Brown’s photographs, and hear our thought on the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. We marvel at and respect a new tall water tower in North Carolina, but there will always be a tattoo burned in our minds and hearts of Union’s water sphere.

“When people look at a Van Gogh painting, some of them love it and others hate it,” said Becker, “It’s open to interpretation whether a water tower is beautiful or not beautiful.”

Read the article and see the photos. (photo credit to Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger)

Gina Signorella-Arlen writes to contribute this photo of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere taken on 2011/12/26:

She also suggests that the year 2012 may be the end of the WTWS due to the end of the Mayan calendar.

Some food for thought:

1. Both the Mayan Calendar and the WTWS are circular in shape. Coincidence?
2. On the winter solstice in 2012, the sun will align with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in 26,000 years. Will the WTWS have any impact on the energy generated from this cosmic alignment?
3. Did the Mayan Calendar predict the rise of the WTWS as a harbinger of the end?

These are interesting questions to ponder. One thing is certain. People should take photos of the WTWS before it is too late.

This research is courtesy of the statistics at Google Ngram viewer. The basis for this discussion is a list of frequency of words and their usage in the English language. Google has scanned and analyzed a large body of books from 1800 to 2000. Words and their frequency can be graphed over time to help analyze their popularity and usage in language media.

In the first graph, the World’s Tallest Water Sphere researchers have graphed the usage of the word “water” versus the word “sphere”. From the chart one can see the data for the word water (in blue) has a popular roller coaster trip over the years 1800 through 2000. It seems the popularity of the word peaked shortly before 1920. Why is this? Were steam engines, locomotives, and battle ships dominating the news? Were people wondering where these engines were to find water to fill their boilers?

In contrasting form, the data for the word “sphere” (in red) has a steady popularity, never rising or falling much. Perhaps the usefulness and wonder of the spheres has been constant since Euclidean times.

The most interesting insight comes to light when one analyzes the frequency of the words “water sphere”. This chart shows a steady rise from 1880 (the dawn of the steel-building era) to 1960. Then, in the early 1960s, when people began to experiment with expanded consciousness and free love, “water sphere” usage rockets into the stratosphere. Later in the 1980s, when people were tired of wearing leather and lycra, and Molly Ringwald stopped making movies, interest in “water sphere” returned to the calm, less frenzied frequencies of the 40s and 50s.

In our estimation, the World’s Tallest Water Sphere (built in 1964) had a large effect on public consciousness. The Union water tower creation correlates to a rise in the frequency of “water sphere” use in the English language. At the same time, there was no increase in the frequency of use of the single words “water” or “sphere”. In fact, “water” usage declines during the 1960s. After the movement of water engineers and design to ellipsoidal water towers in the middle 1980s, the popularity for “water sphere” declines from the WTWS-induced hysteria. It is clear to witness the imprint of Union’s water tower on the psyche of the English language.

Reader Adam Vorphilack writes to share a photo of an awesome water sphere sculpture done in chromed steel. This is an award that the Moog site in New York awards to retirees. You got to give credit to the Moog company. They love their water sphere, and being a true water sphere, it’s a work of art that should be preserved.

An art critic writes:

Is this sculpture a bit creepy? Yes! Its squat neck yells out to be grabbed. The neck is so thick that this water sphere has no shoulders. This work looks more like a weapon or a handle than a water sphere. The World’s Tallest Water Sphere clearly has more beautiful proportions. The WTWS balances its globe precariously up in the heavens. The WTWS is the true work of art.

The World’s Tallest Water Sphere has had some site formatting updates. The site now has a default width of 960 over the older, narrower 760 pixels. The site has been validated with several mobile and tablet devices, such as the Nook shown here.

Let us know if your device or browser has trouble reading the site, and we will fix it.

This photo of a glorious water tower is sent in via reader Jason Dengel. The water tower was completed on Wallops Island, Virginia in July of 2010. It stands 287 feet tall and holds 200,000. The water tank is used to service the nearby NASA launch pads.

Nice view of the tower, the construction equipment, and the backing Atlantic Ocean. Thanks Jason!

This photo shows the Worlds Tallest Water Sphere during a plane landing approach to Newark’s Liberty International airport on Christmas Day 2010. The WTWS is located in the top center of the photograph. Click for a larger view.

The photo also shows a nice view of central Elizabeth and the Elizabeth River in the foreground. There is a beautiful band of the Watchung mountains in the background. There are also 3 or 4 other water towers visible in the photo.

The day after this photo was taken (2010/12/25), New Jersey was hit by 24 to 36 inches of in Elizabeth and Newark, one of the top 5 precipitous falls on record for these watery cities. The 2010-2011 winter season in New Jersey was also notable for the number and severity of deep snow storms.

A reader writes to this site to say that Union no longer has the world’s tallest water tower. In fact the person suggests we rename the domain “worldssecondtallestwatersphere”. A photo is attached and a link is given to information on a new 221 foot water tower in Braman, Okalahoma, built in May of 2010. Well, that sure is a beautiful water tower, and the white paint job must look great against a deep blue Oklahoma sky.

However, and we have stated this before, the World’s Tallest Water Sphere of Union, New Jersey is still the world’s tallest water sphere.

If you look closely at the Braman tower, you can see that the top of the tower is not spherical. Ignore that conical neck collar underneath the dome for now, many towers have such a pedestal for added strength and volume. Look at the outline of the top of the tower. It is quite squashed and flattened. The Braman tower is in fact a water spheroid, not a water sphere.

The spheroid is inferior to the sphere. The spheroid looks like it has been deflated. The spheroid is less regular than a sphere. Imagine how silly the World Cup tournament would be played with a spheroid. Imagine trying to calculate the volume of a spheroid without a calculator. Imagine all the people living life in spheroids.

Some may marvel at tall water towers. Some may marvel at new water towers. However, we marvel at water spheres. The tall kind. The ones with a ball at the top. This site is dedicated to the World’s Tallest Water Sphere.

Gina Signorella-Arlen of Union, New Jersey contributes this photo of a water tower in Nassau, Bahamas, taken sometime about early September of 2010.

Gina says, “I thought you’d like to see how
Nassau, Bahamas has handled the ‘clean municipal water supply’ challenge. Not a bad effort, but it lacks the grace and style of our iconic water sphere.”

Indeed. It has a nice form and is prominently displayed. It must be visible from far at sea. However, imagine the impact on the islanders if there were a tall tower with crowning sphere lofted high above the palm trees. People would be navigating the waters to watch the sun and moon align with the tower. The impact on tourism and the local economy would be immense.

Our congratulations go to reader and Austin resident Mike Merritt for his art opening at The Pump Project. The show ‘The Art of Ceramics, Glass, and Steel’ opens this Saturday, August 28th, 2010 at 7 p.m..

As you see, Mike makes beautiful sculptures and artwork, often inspired by water towers. This particular piece ‘Agent Water Tower Vase’ has several design features that possibly might be inspired by the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. Note the spherical container. Note the light blue color scheme. It’s beautiful.

Mike Merrit of Austin, Texas writes to share his passion for water towers. Not only does he photograph them, he also makes original models like the one shown here. This model is made from clay, steel and molded rubber. It bears a striking resemblance to the World’s Tallest Water Sphere, especially with the vibrant blue color scheme of the 1990s. We hope the WTWS will provide him with continued inspiration.

Mike also has a Flickr site with more images of water towers and his inspired artwork.

Blue Sky WTWS

Traci LaRosa Suppa has written our site to let us know that she and her family, who make it a point to visit the world’s biggest oddities, had fun reading and seeing the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. She also took this lovely picture which has just above the clearest, bluest sky that I have ever seen. The blue looks just wonderful backing our beloved ghostly white WTWS.

Their family also made the trip to the Edison museum and viewed the WTWS fomr Ingersoll Terrace, home of the Edison houses. Visit their Go Big or Go Home blog and read all about it!

Congratulations go to Brian Donohue for his work on the Star Ledger Live site and all its interesting stories. The World’s Tallest Water Sphere site was interviewed for a segment back in January of 2009.

Brian Donohue has won an Emmy award for his work in interactive media. With a love for the World’s Tallest Water Sphere, New Jersey, and all it’s weirdness, what else could be done but to photograph the Emmy alongside the WTWS. We like the look! If ever there were structural problems, what else would be a better proposal than to have a giant, golden, art deco, statue prop the giant sphere?

This heavenly alignment of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere and the Sun was photographed and submitted by reader Brian Donahue in February of 2010. The photo is taken from Route 78 in the Hillside area looking west.

As several readers have mentioned, there is an alignment of Sphere and Sun during two moments during the year when the Sun’s elliptical declination aligns perfectly behind the water tower. Can other readers guess what these dates are and the significance to the builders? One clue is that this photo taken in February is close to the date but not precisely aligned. Another clue is that there has been one moment in time when the Sun has been eclipsed by the Moon and the Moon has been eclipsed by the World’s Tallest Water Sphere.

This gravity defying action shot of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere was taken recently from a speeding automobile traveling north on the Garden State Parkway. Thanks to Gina Signorella-Arlen who enlisted the help of her family in capturing this shot safely while navigating crowded swarms of swerving New Jersey drivers attempting to perform the same maneuver.

This is the terrifying image that millions witness every day. I love the color, the clouds, and the trees in this photo. Imagine the tension and fear that viewers might experience as they are driving along the New Jersey highways and seeing the World’s Tallest Water Sphere for the first time.

“A steel tower appears on the horizon. Interesting, perhaps a water tower. That’s odd. It is the tallest water tower I have ever seen. It looks nearly white, and yet it blocks the sun behind it.

Now I am at its base. It reaches upwards scraping the cold gray sky. Unbowed, it is too big for my windshield. It utterly fills my field of view. I cannot avert my eyes or I will crash. I see its perspiring welded seams, the beaconed head, the oxidized iron bubbling through the paint. I see the veinous wires crawling up its neck. With spiked collars around its neck, it appears to be leaning over the roadway. Is it about to pounce? It will crush us all if it falls. In the fell clutch of circumstance! Black as the pit from pole to pole!”

Happy New Year to all from the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. A prosperous 2010 to all our reader.

Our intrepid reporters had a chance to visit the World’s Tallest Water Sphere and take some photos. We will file a report soon. In the mean time, here is a preview photo of a lovely day at the site.

The sky is clear and blue. The Kahwamee swamp is reedy and cold. The water tower looms over all, watching from behind the trees. This photo was taken on December 29th, 2009. The air temp was about 22 degrees and there were high gusty winds making the wavelets on the water.

The Portland Water Bureau has written a blog article on this site. It is interesting to see various water companies and municipal water works tracking and linking to this site. Thanks to author Jennie Day-Burget of Blogtella for writing the nice article.

The Portland Water Bureau motto is “From Forest to Faucet”. The Union Township municipal water does not come from a forest. It comes from wells drilled into the Kahwamee swamp. It is pumped and processed in a local treatment plant and stored in the World’s Tallest Water Sphere.

Perhaps Union residents can have a similar motto as well. “From Swamp to Sink” or “From Kahwamee to Kraphole” are two that come to mind. What are your ideas? Got any catchy subtitles for the World’s Tallest Water Sphere water?

This photo depicts the World’s Tallest Water Sphere from the “Blue Era”. Photo taken in December of 1991. It also is the photo used for the header logo of this site.

Scientists at the World’s Tallest Water Sphere Research Center in Austin, Texas have determined the extent of damage possible to the World’s Tallest Water Sphere in the event of massive flooding. As many people know, the level of the oceans is rising due to global warming and the melting of polar ice caps. As the ice caps melt, the coast recedes, the shore advances, and what was once land becomes submerged. Pretty soon the Watchung Mountains become prime beachfront property. Using NASA satellite data and Firetree Google Maps, one can analyze the effect.

The animated map to the right shows the extent of flooding that might damage the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. (Turn on browser images and animation to see the horrible consequences). To the left of the photo lies Kawameeh Park, site of the WTWS. To the center, lies Kean University, home of the Cougars (and they ain’t talking about cats, baby, yeah!) To the right lies Newark Liberty Airport.

At 3 meters rise, most of the Newark Ironbound district and the airport is under water, signified by the blue shading to the right. At 6 meters, sea water has covered Weequahic Park and starts to enter downtown Elizabeth. Route 22 and 78 and the New Jersey Turnpike by the airport is open to boat traffic. At 9 meters Elizabeth goes under, and Kawameeh swamp floods into a lake. At 12 meters and then 14 meters, Kean University becomes beach front property. Thankfully, the World’s Tallest Water Sphere appears to be safe at this level. Union residents will likely have an uninterrupted supply of clean drinking water, and toilets will continue to flush all but the biggest piles of excrement.

While we are talking scientifically here, the next research project for the World’s Tallest Water Sphere Research Center is why New Jerseyans say the Jersey Shore rather than the Jersey Coast. As any sea dog knows, the shore is the landward limit of the sea, and the coast is the seaward limit of the land. Unless most Jerseyans are expressing their love for the ocean and that strip of beach that exists between high and low tide (you know, the part that gets all the seaweed, sand dollars, and prehistoric horseshoe crabs), the New Jersey part with all the boardwalks, casinos, rides, games, beer and pizza would be the Jersey coast.

Gina Arlen contributes this rather unique set of sightings:

Which one gives you nightmares?