The World's Tallest Water Sphere

Shown is a view of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere as you speed eastward towards New York City along Route 22 East. You better hurry because the cars are traveling about 80 miles per hour and there are some tricky merges from Morris Avenue (Route 82), the Garden State Parkway, and Route 78 here.

Notice the two tone scheme of the tower. Light gray blue on top to match the light cloud cover. Darker gray blue on the bottom. This is reminiscent of the Navy blimp camouflage schemes used during the Great War.

Click on the image to get a larger view.

As you may know from our articles, Elizabethtown Water built the World’s Tallest Water Sphere in 1964. There have been several paint schemes to the WTWS, but at one point the WTWS had a distinctive Elizabethtown Water company logo at the waist. This is shown in our header photo for this site. When the World’s Tallest Water Sphere was painted in its most recent light blue paint scheme, and its midriff was festooned with many cell phone antennas (early 1990s), the distinctive logo was lost to history.

Recently this author discovered that the Elizabethtown Water company is gone. Apparently, the company was purchased by the New Jersey American Water company, which was later purchased5 American Water company. Now Union New Jersey’s water needs are served by a national conglomerate.

Most likely this means that the distinctive “Dripping Pump” logo will never be seen again on the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. Tell us your thoughts. What did the pump mean to you? Do you miss the pump? Do you see any remaining dripping pump logos out on the web or on the highways?

Here is the nearest neighbor to the World’s Tallest Water Sphere – the Kenilworth water tower. This squat water tower sits in Kenilworth, New Jersey just off of Route 22 between Springfield Road South and North Michigan Avenue. This quiet green spot of land is Black Brook Park near the Galloping Hill Golf Course that you see near exit 138 on the Garden State Parkway.

With this water tower the residents of Kenilworth are going for pure function. The tower is low and voluminous, but it sits on a small hill to give it more altitude. The tower is covered with antennas and industrial appendages, but thankfully some of the trees block the view.

You can park and take your friends and your dog up the hill near the base of the tower.

This photo shows the World’s Tallest Water Sphere trapped in a cage yearning to be free. This reader submission was taken on October 7th, 2007. No photo editing trickery here, just an angle taken from the perimeter fence behind the Dress Barn strip mall across the street.

Are you creative with photo editing? Do you like seeing your favorite water sphere in hilarious situations? If so, send us your photo edits featuring the World’s Tallest Water Sphere, and we’ll post the good ones on the site.

In the photo we see a drunken reveler partying with the water sphere. Perhaps his dual Water Sphere glasses contain his favorite beverage. He is enjoying shaking his water spheres like maraccas and diving into his pants pocket with his free hand. Party on dude.

In case you are wondering why water towers are so tall, or why they so often are placed on hills, there is a great article written by Marshall Brain at “How Water Towers Work”.

Not only do you get diagrams showing that the water goes inside the tower, you also see some photos of interesting and unique towers around the world.

Walther’s Model Railroad company has just made it easier for those of you wanting to model the World’s Tallest Water Sphere.

Using their Modern Water Tower Kit, one can model an N scale (1/160 scale) water tower. Of course to use the model to approximate the height of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere one must splice 3 or 4 of the models together to get a proper size.

Notice the color scheme of this instance is a lovely light blue, similar to the earlier artistry that graced the Union’s water tower. Forget that Woodlawn town name. We all know Union is the best name for a tall tower.

Google Maps now provides a service to see street views of places listed on the maps. Appropriately, the service is called Google Street views, and it is available via a new Street View button on the maps.

Not every street has a street photo view, but of course we checked, and the WTWS is listed. Apparently the photos are taken from a speeding truck with cameras pointed in 8 directions and pictures taken every 1 second. It looks like they caught the WTWS on a gray and overcast day.

Please visit Google maps and spread the word about the World’s Tallest Water Sphere.

One way to see the world without leaving your chair is to go Google Sightseeing. Using just a browser and an immense database of maps and aerial photography, one can virtually visit the world’s famous cities and landmarks, explore rivers and mountain ranges, see world heritage sites, or simply map out some vacation plans.

One of our favorite sports is of course the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. Our favorite landmark is visible and easily linked, and there is even a link to our (older, pre domain) site. I also like that it shows the Oklahoma world’s tallest water spheroid for comparison.

If you will, please leave a comment there and say you heard it from this site. Help spread the word about the World’s Tallest Water Sphere.

As we all know, the world is becoming a more crowded place. New Jersey is the most crowded state in the U.S. with the highest population density. So despite all the jokes, it appears people love and really want to live in New Jersey. What is interesting is that New Jersey has some really dense cities, some very sparse farmlands, and some pockets of wilderness within its densest regions.

This photo shows the World’s Tallest Water Sphere in the midst of a pocket of urban tranquility. The tower sits in an undeveloped swamp. The winter trees wrap the sight of the the WTWS. Not a single car, person, plane, or other building in sight.

This most unusual doorway leads to places that few people have seen. Although it looks like an ordinary maintenance passage to the interior of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere, it is rumored that few of the people who have entered here have returned with their sanity.

This photo shows the pale blue color of the Water Sphere around December 27, 2006. Not the weeping alganaite streaks along the left side of the door. This is no ordinary rusting bolt. Yes, this is a sign of life within the WTWS escaping to the outside world.

Back beyond the wintery trees lies the back side of the signage “World’s Tallest Water Sphere.”

Some coincidences are stranger than fiction, including this set of Water Sphere facts worthy of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

• The World’s Tallest Water Sphere is located in Union Township, New Jersey.
• Less than one mile from the WTWS is Burnet Junior High School. Nearby is Burnet Avenue.
• Both of these landmarks are named after past Union resident David Gouverneur Burnet.
• Burnet moved to Texas and became the first interim President of the Republic of Texas.
• Burnet Road in Austin, Burnet county, and Burnet, Texas are all named after David Burnet.
• Less than one mile from Burnet Road in Austin is the World’s Tallest Water Sphere Museum.

And there you have it, a strange but true historical linking of the WTWS in Union to the WTWS Museum in Austin.

Strange but true. The LoveLine Radio Show has named Union’s WTWS one of its best date spots. See the article in the archives section of Best Date Spots.

“What could be cool or date-worthy about a water sphere? Well, for starters, you won’t find another larger one anywhere in the world. If that alone doesn’t impress your date, then maybe the overtly phallic design of the water sphere will get them hot and in the mood.”

Despite their enthusiasm, I am somewhat skeptical. Magnificent as the WTWS shape is, I don’t think it gets anyone “hot and in the mood.”

Much thanks to Theodore Thimou (UHS class of 1993) for alerting us to this honor. We encourage all stories, photos, and reader submissions.

The years come and go, but since 1964 Union, New Jersey has the world’s record for the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. Here’s a photo of an old sign near the base of the water sphere. I believe this sign once said “Elizabethtown Gas” with a graphic outline of the water pump design used by company and also present one-third of the way up the tower before the cell phone antennas came. (See the classic photo on this site’s home page header.)

We wish you a prosperous and happy New Year with many visits and sightings of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere.

Here’s a close-up shot of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere from the end of the year in 2006. This was a great year for the site with many user emails, stories, and lots of wonderful photos and artwork. We hope you keep contributing and writing in the future.

This photo was taken midday on a medium cold, partly cloudy day with gusty winds on 27 December 2006. Note the disused boarded-up Elizabethtown Gas brick building at the center and the Route 22 to Morris Avenue ramp overheard. Looking somewhat like an old gray ghost, the WTWS looms overhead in its light blue shroud.

Here is a Halloween-related piece of art created by resident World’s Tallest Water Sphere artist David Wuethrich. Originally conceived for a cassette tape box cover, this art still is timely and celebrating of the artist’s favorite season Halloween. Note the almost unimaginable phantasm of two water spheres colliding and generating the life-giving spark. Suddenly, the beauty is resurrected and brought to consciousness gazing upon the twin water spheres. The wonder, the potential, the fright.

Steven F. Scharff of Henderson, Nevada writes:

As a former resident of both Hillside and Union, I recall the many times I have craned my neck as a child as our family drove past the Water Sphere, and how it was a welcome site when I travelled back to Union while on vacation. Many referred to it as “The Great Gearshift Knob”.

Thanks for the memories Steven. We appreciate reader submissions of memories, photos, and experiences with The World’s Tallest Water Sphere.

Here is more cassette box artwork from David Wuethrich. This artwork originates from about the late 1990s when the miniatures game Blood Bowl was popular. Blood Bowl is a fantasy football game with elves, dwarves, orcs, and humans bashing and killing each other while trying to score points. As you see, the various water spheres are poised for battle in fantasy blood sport.

This article introduces a new category for World’s Tallest Water Sphere – Competitors.

This category both recognizes and compares other towers to the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. Note, I do not say “Union’s Water Tower”, or “The Water Sphere in Union”. I say the WTWS because Union New Jersey has the undisputed world’s tallest water sphere. It is the tallest, the most spherical, the most magnificent impression on mankind’s psyche.

However, some of the attributes of the WTWS are also admired in other towers. There is something very positive and admired about water towers. They have a graviity-defying shape set against the sky. They provide water pressure and potable water for many towns. And they provide a focused iconic point for towns which would have naught else to ponder. A mantra. A focus point. A vision.

Above we see the water sphere of Moog Inc. in upstate New York. It is a well designed tower. It provides water. It has a spherical dome. Yet it lacks in so many ways when compared to the WTWS. It is short. It is hidden from view from people on the nearby highways. It is private.

We welcome you to provide information to this site about water spheres and other towers that inspire, provide water, or serve as a focal point to their communities.

Q: What is a water sphere?
A water sphere is a tower designed to hold water. It looks like a golf ball sitting on a tee. Water spheres use height and gravity to create water pressure for a water distribution system. A spherical top helps put a large mass of water at a high point, which is important for maintaining water pressure in tall buildings. A spherical shape is simple to design, construct, and helps resist asymetrical pressures (such as wind, rain, or gravity) in vertical or horizontal directions.

Q: Where is the Union water sphere?
The water sphere is located in Union near the intersection of the Garden State Parkway and Morris Avenue. Route 22, Interstate 78, and other roads also pass within viewing disptance. The latitude and longitude are north 40.693274, west 74.262046 Here is a Google Map link.

Q: Where are the best vantage points for observing the Union water sphere?
View from David Terrace near Kawameeh Park to see northern skies. View from Ingersoll Terrace to look southward. There are also nice views along Morris Avenue and some great wild life views along a path from Morris Avenue near the Suburban Golf Course entrance towards the Kahwamee Junior High School. Look westward from airplanes landing at Newark Liberty International Airport. View from gondola of zeppelin to see top view of tower.

For all visitors, please respect private property rights and the community owned property rights around the water tower. Do not cross fence lines. Do not vandalize or tag structures. Do not litter. Do not destroy or antagonize wildlife around the site. If you see litter or debris, please help remove it and leave the site in a better state than that you found it in.

Q: What are the Union water sphere dimensions?
The main tower is 212 feet (~65 m) tall and holds 250,000 gallons (946,353 liters) of liquid.

In 2008, a red stroboscopic beacon was constructed atop the tower. The beacon adds at least 6 feet to the tower, equaling and perhaps exceeding other towers including the Edmunds Oklahoma tower.

Q: When was the Union water sphere built?
The tower was built in 1964.

Q: Who designed and built the Union water sphere?
Chicago Bridge and Iron built the water sphere. Armand Fiorletti of Linden worked on the tower and has stated “I am still proud of the fact that I helped build it, and when I pass it with someone I tell them, ‘I helped build that.’”

Q: Who owns the Union water sphere?
Elizabethtown Water and Gas was the original owner. The company was purchased by the New Jersey American Water Company, which was later purchased by American Water Company, who are the current owners.

Q: How often do they paint and maintain the Union water sphere?
The tower is painted every 20 years or so. The tower is drained and inspected every other year. Since the site is a functioning water treatment plant, maintenance crews visit the site frequently. Recent expeditions to the site reveal new fences, trimmed trees and plants, and recent maintenance, showing that the WTWS is well loved and cared for despite difficult economic conditions.

Q: Water sphere or Watersphere? One word or two?
Either is correct. Which style do you want to use? This site uses the older, more common water sphere (two word) form. Hence the abbreviation WTWS. As ideas and phrases become more common, the English and German languages tend to hyphenate, and then merge words in singular forms. Hence electronic mail, then e-mail, now email. Similarly park way, park-way, parkway. Since many people do not yet know the concept of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere, we use separate words.

Contrary to the grammatical viewpoint, the historic Elizabethtown Water Company billboard uses the single word “WORLD’S TALLEST WATERSPHERE.” So if you are kicking it old-school and like history, use one word.

Q: How many people view the Union water sphere daily?
Total: 1.2 million

• Garden State Parkway drivers: 600 thousand daily
• Route 22 drivers: 200 thousand daily
• Interstate 78 drivers: 200 thousand daily
• Morris Avenue (Route 82) drivers: 50 thousand daily
• Newark Liberty International Airport airplane passengers: 50 thousand daily
• Local traffic drivers: 50 thousand daily
• Foot traffic, businesses, and school viewers: 50 thousand daily

Note: These traffic figures are estimates but the proportions likely are accurate. Figures will be updated as they become available.

Q: WTWS, a force for evil or good?
Although many report the WTWS as a evil, malevolent, or terrifying image, we believe the tower is a force for good. It provides Union with reliable water pressure. It provides a positive waypoint for auto or airplane travelers. And it emits low-frequency vibrations forcing all Unionites to obey its commands.

Q: Where is the World’s Tallest Water Sphere Museum?
It is located on the northwest side of Austin, Texas. Museum exhibits, photographs, models, and guided tours are available by appointment. Exhibits are available for loan for noteworthy projects.

Q: Which well-known New Jersey people may have witnessed the World’s Tallest Water Sphere?

Count Basie, Jon Bon Jovi, Danny Devito, Whitney Houston, Queen Latifah, Ray Liotta, Shaquille O’Neal, Frank Sinatra, Mira Sorvino, Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep, John Travolta, Zakk Wylde. These famous New Jerseyans have likely seen the WTWS and can probably attest to the quality of northern New Jersey’s municipal water supply.

Several famous Union expatriates have moved from Union to Austin including Texas’ first interim president David Burnet (namesake of Union’s Burnet Junior High School and Burnet Road) and Dan Becker (curator of the WTWS Museum in Austin).

Q: Who runs the WTWS web site?
This site is a private enterprise for public philanthropy, run by Dan Becker.

Q: How can I help spread the word?
Contribute your photos, news, artwork, and personal recollections to the Webmaster.