Water hammerWhen he returned from the city
He embellished his plan with a motor timer, a large electric
what snap-action water valve, and a flow regulator. The system would, he said, provide a reasonable, continuous flow of clean, potable water during the daytime. The excess flow could irrigate a system of flower beds, replacing those that the water buffalo’s brief but deadly rampage had destroyed. At night, the valve would shut, removing from the central village square the nuisance of fresh water available to the local livestock.
The villagers approved. They raised a fund and launched Ernie on a journey to the nearest city to procure the necessary supplies. Ernie felt lucky to have this position. Tucked away high in the mountains of Bhutan, he could devote his engineering skill to the cause of social progress. He felt needed. The villagers built him a hut when he arrived. Here, he could forget all the unpleasantness of his last assignment.
Water hammerWhen he returned from the city, Ernie labored for weeks burying 2500 feet of 4-in. steel irrigation pipe leading from the spring to the village far below. He installed the valve and controller at the receiving end of the pipe. When the electric valve finally snapped open, water immediately gushed from
what the pipe at a rate of 30 gallons per minute, just as he had planned.
