The Most Mindblowing Infrastructure in My City

I wrote a book! And to celebrate, I went around San Antonio filming a few of my favorite infrastructure projects. Check out all the preorder locations here: practical.engineering/book
Want a free signed copy? Make a social media post with the hashtag #EngineeringInPlainSight. I'll give 5 copies away to my favorite posts. More info here: practical.engineering/contest
Errata: The dam shown at 0:23 is Glen Canyon Dam, not Hoover Dam.
Map of the locations in this video: www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mi...
Watch this video and the entire Practical Engineering catalog ad-free on Nebula: go.nebula.tv/practical-engine...
Practical Engineering is a KZbin channel about infrastructure and the human-made world around us. It is hosted, written, and produced by Grady Hillhouse. We have new videos posted regularly, so please subscribe for updates. If you enjoyed the video, hit that ‘like’ button, give us a comment, or watch another of our videos!
CONNECT WITH ME
____________________________________
Website: practical.engineering
Twitter: / hillhousegrady
Instagram: / practicalengineering
Reddit: / practicalengineering
Facebook: / practicalengineergrady​
Patreon: / practicalengineering
SPONSORSHIP INQUIRIES
____________________________________
Please email my agent at [e-mail]
DISCLAIMER
____________________________________
This is not engineering advice. Everything here is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Contact an engineer licensed to practice in your area if you need professional advice or services. All non-licensed clips used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
SPECIAL THANKS
____________________________________
Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images.
Tonic and Energy by Elexive is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License
Source: • Elexive - Tonic and En...
Producer/Writer/Host: Grady Hillhouse
Editor/Production Assistant: Wesley Crump
Script Editor: Ralph Crewe
Aerial Videography: Special Point of View

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Thanks so much to all of you who watch this channel for your comments, emails, viewership, and support. I never could have written this book without the encouragement and feedback you've provided over the past 6 years. Check out all the preorder locations here: practical.engineering/book

[@asclepias738]

Hey Grady, which store is offering you the best revenue on the book? Wanna buy it from the right place...

[@silentracer911]

Another wonderful video sir… this is a book I would actually read given the time

[@Backtrack3332]

Is this just going to be available as an ebook? Amazon doesn't show me any other versions.

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

@@asclepias738 It's kind of complicated, but short answer is I won't know until publication. The publisher offers a larger discount and access to early electronic versions of the book. I'm shipping signed copies from my website. Retailers will (eventually) offer the lowest prices. You should go with what you prefer and not worry about me ;)

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

@@Backtrack3332 No, it will be available as a hardback and ebook.

[@ziracoteful]

3:41 My friend was an engineer that helped with the Flood Control Tunnel project. He said it took a long time to get the project approved. Interestingly, soon after completing the tunnel there was a massive flood level rain storm that came through San Antonio in 1998. He drove through downtown San Antonio just after the storm and saw a few people walking around and others eating at restaurants. Those people had no idea that the Flood Control Tunnel saved the whole downtown area from being under 20 feet of water. The tunnel prevented millions of dollars in flood damages and paid for itself with that one event.

[@intractablemaskvpmGy]

I remember that day- it rained 18 inches and messed a lot of stuff up, but that tunnel was a godsend for downtown

[@EC_GB]

Hey!!! I’m a San Antonio city employee I work as Sr electronic tech and we operate the flood control system from olmos dam to lone star outlet and parts of the the river walk. Great video!

[@shawnspencer8766]

Do you work on plc's and scada systems?

[@hedgehog3180]

5:10 on that subject you might love a major ecological restoration that happened here in the 2000s, Egåengsø was originally a marshy area that was drained to make way for farming but in the 2000s it was instead converted back into a lake to help combat oxygen deprivation in the Århus bay. The slow moving lake functions as a giant natural cleaning facility that takes out fertilizers in the runoff from farms before it ever reaches the ocean and has been successful in restoring the natural environment in the bay, and at the same time it has also created a massive natural environment right on the edge of the city which has unmatched biodiversity. On any given day you'll be able to see dozens of different types of birds hanging out in the shallow lake and it has also been successfully integrated with the farms in the area around the lake. They keep cattle almost exclusively which actually contributes to the biodiversity since they both control the spread of some plants by grazing on them but also just by walking around they mash down the plants and create a marshy earth. And of course the entire lake is surrounded by a biking and hiking trail that's part of the wider bike path network in Århus and the national hiking trails and along it there are rest stops and look out towers for bird watchers making it a really nice place to go for a walk on any day of the year, from where I live it's actually only a few minutes on bike to get to the lake.

[@shoyrushoyru]

there used to be two water towers in my town when growing up. they ended up getting disassembled over the years because they needed repairs and werent needed in the water system anymore due to their excessive height and small capacity. it does make me feel somewhat melancholic when i think about how theyre now gone. it used to bring me some pride to see my town name plastered across that big blue tower in the distance

[@Kags]

I enjoy the "deep" dives you do on engineering projects, offering some of the more in-depth details of projects we might not otherwise have heard about. But there is something quite charming about this quick look video of you showing off your cities features in person. I like it. I'd be interested to see some more "Tom Scott-like" videos in future where you visit a site near you and give an explanation of its importance and how it works for a few minutes

[@MattyEngland]

@@te8828 NCSWIC 👍 WWG1WGA

[@jcnash02]

Grady, I am definitely going to be ordering this book. As a kid, I love the “how things work” kind of book. This project is brilliant, and you deserve to be in every library across our country and many across the world! I’m proud you’re a Texan. Now, my wife and I need to take a few days in San Antonio and see all those water features…preferably a warmer day…lol.

[@sergeysmirnov1062]

Same here, just checked and am happy to report it ships to Germany

[@HDL_CinC_Dragon]

My favorite book as a kid was the "How in the World?" book that described how all kinds of different things work! I'll definitely be ordering one too!

[@MurCurieux]

+1

[@jhs5238]

Ditto on the how things work books. As a little kid my favorite books were by Richard Scarry. Anyone remember those? They were animated books with very detailed illustrations of how things work. For example they would show pipes in the walls of houses, even colored hot and cold pipes accordingly and I’m sure showed sewer, etc. I’m hoping Grady’s book is a Richard Scarry book for grownups. Congrats on the book Grady. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

[@Wourghk]

@@HDL_CinC_Dragon Thank you for mentioning that book. I've been starved for practical "the science of..." books lately, and recent offerings by National Geographic et al are laughably poor. It may be from 1990, but facts never change.

[@DeviantOllam]

Looking forward to this... Outstanding work! 👍😁👍

[@isfiyiywafibc6qaiiiiiiiiii570]

Studying up on civil engineering so you can social engineer yourself onto construction sites eh?

[@DeviantOllam]

@@isfiyiywafibc6qaiiiiiiiiii570 Hah... you know my way of thinking =)

[@danb851]

Deviant truly does show up everywhere on youtube

[@DeviantOllam]

@@danb851 😉👍

[@LostDryerSocks]

My son is almost two years old. I just pre-ordered the book for him and I knowing he'll grow into it someday. Maybe by then, you'll have another one out so we can add to the collection. Keep up the great work!

[@JPToto]

This is fantastic, Grady! I'd love to get your book and read it with my kids. Also when's your Netflix show coming out? 🤣 No kidding you could be the Bill Nye of engineering!

[@brettvv7475]

Right? He really is a great presenter. I'm not even _that_ into engineering, yet I've binged his videos multiple times. He is great at making it interesting.

[@sjkebab]

@@peterfitzpatrick7032 oh shut up.

[@frostman9661]

@@peterfitzpatrick7032 oh give me a break... Just because science and logic disagrees with your snowflake sensibilities doesn't mean he's "bought".

[@frostman9661]

@@kevm243 Gender is not equivalent to Biological Sex. If you think that's the case you do not understand the subject and I recommend learning a little more first.

[@OveranalyzingEverything]

@@frostman9661 yea it is. The whole gender theory was all made up

[@jessewickstrum9657]

I literally cheered out loud at the mention of a Practical Engineering book I immediately preordered as fast as I could and only then did I finish the video. LoL Thanks for your work, Mr. Grady. It makes me feel the curiosity of childhood again.

[@daic7274]

Same here, did you have a preview of the first chapter? Available from the publisher if you're interested.

[@jessewickstrum9657]

@@daic7274 all good things to those who wait LoL

[@mh-pz6ds]

Same here. I'm excited for the book.

[@jessewickstrum9657]

Hannibal taught so many good lessons

[@sladeoriginal]

I work in municipal water infrastructure and I'm so "pumped" that you took the leap to create this book! We really do stand on the shoulders of giants that solved major engineering problems allowing us to now live in the safe modern environment we take for granted.

[@nobodynoone2500]

Not everyone is in a city, I'd love to see more interesteing, unnoticed, rural infrastructure too! Explain why pipelines are good, interstate water sharing, and remote electric stations. The problems and challenge of dispersed living are just as interesting as those of clustered life.

[@elijah4606]

I think it would be a public good to present the best arguments for and against certain types of public infrastructure! Why might it be good to build a pipeline, or why might it be bad? Why might a new road be necessary, or why might it not be?

[@Trixtah]

Perhaps you need to look at the title of the book and some of other Grady's videos, because I don't know why you're complaining. The last I saw, dams (especially the big ones), bridges, electrical substations, flood control and soil dynamics aren't exclusive to cities. In fact, I'd say that the vast majority of Grady's channel is about structures that aren't exclusive to cities.

[@Trixtah]

@@elijah4606 But that's not what this channel's about? Grady certainly explains why one option might be used over another in a practical sense, but his channel is about HOW things work, not about what are essentially political decisions re why Mega Polluting Pipeline "needs" to exist. Although he's certainly discussed the results of certain political decisions, in terms of how they affect the infrastructure. Including in this very video - San Antonio changing their flood control outlet and downstream waterway from a big concrete channel to a more natural waterway and parklands. But he didn't say WHY the city decided to go that route (I mean, it's glaringly obvious to me, but those decisions aren't really germane to the discussion).

[@iwanttwoscoops]

you sound a little defensive there bud...and you're wrong. Problems in cities inherently involve massive numbers of people in a very dense environment, while rural life has FAR more margin of error. As such, urban engineering becomes more complex and interesting, while rural systems can often be fixed with "divert it through those other woods lol"

[@waterboy8999]

@@elijah4606 Grady doesn't do arguments, he's an engineer.

[@DrWhite006]

I love this channel. As a retired engineer, I tend to point out infrastructure such as this to family and friends. Most think I'm nuts. Thank you Grady for normalizing my behavior!

[@ctdieselnut]

Oh you're not nuts and you know it. Some may not be mechanically inclined or think they aren't interested, but I find most people get a kick out of how clever solutions can fix complex problems. Just look at this channel.

[@andrebartels1690]

Oh, I think you aren't nuts. You have the educated view to appreciate what these things do for the community, and how hard and expensive it is to make them.

[@dankyjoker]

I would listen to your nutty ramblings about tensile strength and the load capacity of things.

[@ChuckD59]

I find that if you understand your "audience" and not try to impress them, simple explanations can often get surprising reactions from people who'd otherwise not give a thought to why, say, we have catch basins and why a shopping center needs to account for all the rain in a year and it's management.

[@OrderOfTwisted]

Oh how I’d love to listen to your bits of knowledge.

[@Maniac3020]

I don't normally buy books, but as a growing engineering enthusiast, who's already learning to see the world through the eyes of an engineer, I couldn't resist.

[@mattdonovan6597]

So excited for your book! As a kid, I loved David Macaulay’s books that talked about the Pyramids, or big city infrastructure etc. stoked to see a modern version, I’ll be pre ordering for sure!

[@Atepa09]

I have been following your videos for what feels like years now, and while I'll never be in the field of engineering, I love the way you not only present your videos but how you take some complicated topics and break them down to general terms, without losing the nuance of the details. I can't wait to see what all you've got in store in the book. Congratulations Grady!

[@floobertuber]

"Chose the coldest day of the year" ... _/me chortles heartily in Wisconsinese_ In all seriousness though, Grady, another great video! You never fail to teach me something! San Antonio truly looks like a beautiful and interesting place.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I know, right? I'm in Massachusetts and I see Grady standing there without five layers, a hat and mittens (because mittens let your fingers keep each other warm, unlike gloves!) and I think, "Cold? Seriously?"

[@floobertuber]

@@MonkeyJedi99 I literally hide inside for four months a year. If there's not a bunch of snow that needs clearing, who the hell wants to be out there freezing their gonnectigazoingus off? I hate living here, but #SWMBO insists upon it.

[@stevenborck1279]

I'm also from Wisconsin and I was thinking the same thing XD

[@MrMatteNWk]

Coldest day of the year in Texas, shouldn't the power grid be collapsing?

[@TestingPyros]

Looks like a nice day to me! ;)

[@NoBodyHome75]

I check my KZbin once a week and the first subscription update I look for is yours. Being in the civil engineering myself, your perspective has really helped me to be able to explain some complicated concepts to others in a way they will understand and appreciate. It’s obvious you love what you do. Can’t wait to get the book and I’m so excited for you. 🎉

[@danielhumphrey6950]

I have no engineering background and I love how you break down the topics into easier to understand concepts. I never thought I would be interesting in an engineering book, yet here I am preordering yours!

[@hdog679]

Very exciting! I just secured a preorder. You first got me into engineering in high school and years later I'm now a Dam Safety Engineer.

[@jcnash02]

Are you the best Dam safety engineer? I Just had to….

[@Skullair313]

"I'm the best dam(n) inspector in the business. And I am her to inspect this dam"

[@kakarikiIck]

Good on you pal!

[@GeoffWhittaker]

Can't wait for the book and pin! Keep the great content coming. It's KZbinrs like you who fill the gap formed when quality STEM content on TV gave way to the inevitable "pseudo-reality" garbage. I'm thankful for you and all those like you.

[@watchdawg51]

Hey Grady, I'm very excited for your new book! I already put in my pre-order. Thank you so much for sharing your love and passion of infrastructure with us! It's not only entertaining, but very educational. I'm a Construction Superintendent but I always learn something new with every video you post. I love to listen to your videos while I sit at my job site desk. Stay safe and have fun my friend!

[@TAEYYO]

Love your wholesome, informative videos. You're doing a great service to cities everywhere by helping people understand the work that goes into maintaining a city!

[@CaseyEm]

It's absolutely nutty that someone found a way to make engineering interesting enough that over two and a half million people were like "I want more"

[@MushookieMan]

Engineering has always been interesting. There are lots of things we don't appreciate simply because we aren't familiar with them.

[@FidgetyGuy]

Must have been the bit about watering San Antonio lawns with human feces that intrigued you. My first question would be what happens when the shat dries and starts blowing about? Now, you breathing human feces in as you mow the lawn, play golf, or have a picnic. No thank you.

[@chrisrnz]

@@FidgetyGuy Wow, tell us you've never watched Practical Engineering without telling us you've never watched Practical Engineering.

[@FidgetyGuy]

@@chrisrnz It's dirty water with shat particles in it - that's why it's not clean enough for drinking. I would love to see a before/after study on disease in San Antonio. Now, you're welcome to travel to San Antonio and frolic in the fields of shat. As for me and my family, we've crossed San Antonio off our list of travel destinations.

[@chrisrnz]

@@FidgetyGuy Yeah, anyone that's watched Practical Engineering (including me) is already aware the recycled water isn't potable. You're talking about breathing in faecal matter while you're playing golf or mowing the lawn; hardly an accurate statement. Since we're essentially talking about the risk of disease transmission I think you should be more concerned with touching a door handle in a public location, turning on a traditional tap/faucet in a public bathroom or grabbing the overhead handle in a public bus/train/subway than about being near any location using recycled water like this.

[@GoTeamScotch]

Whenever I'm having trouble sleeping, I put on Practical Engineering videos. I don't mean this in a mean way or to imply that the topics are boring. There's just something about the combination of the topics being spoken about and Grady's delivery that makes any worries in my mind melt away. It's like a warm blanket on a cold day when I'm feeling restless. The videos are also fascinating and well produced. I always come back and finish ones I missed!

[@neophoys]

I love your content Grady! My background is in molecular biology so I absolutely understand and share your passion for the mechanics and inner workings of seemingly innocuous things! It really changed my perspective of everyday sights and gives me much needed brainfood on my daily commutes! I'm excited for your book!

[@nickb20]

Grady this is AWESOME! I’d love to see the real life videos of infrastructure as a regular feature here on the channel. You’re among the best people on all of KZbin and I’m so glad to see your passion come through in the videos!

[@alexplorer]

I like the term "recycled water." Although what we do at home is technically a "gray water" system, I always say "recycled water" so people intuitively understand that the water has been used once and is getting a 2nd use before it is disposed of. For example, the washing machine is used to water the lawn/trees. The lint is filtered out, and we use Ecos rather than anything like powdered detergents that contain sodium. The bath water is also sent out sometimes to water trees on the opposite side of the house from the rest, but most of the bath water is simply used for flushing toilets. You definitely don't need to use clean drinking water to flush your waste!

[@risili5446]

Tell us more about your gray water system at home. My impression is that it's not _very_ common, e.g. even in ever more expensive homes of California. How do you turn a home into utilizing gray water?

[@alexplorer]

@@risili5446 Let me put it more generally: To move water you need to use energy. That's from one of 3 ways: Gravity, electric pumps, and/or manually. My washer is upstairs, so I have it drain into a "buffer" barrel that then uses a garden hose to transfer the water out the window directly to a rain barrel, which then uses drip hoses (with Y-splitters) to distribute it to the yard, trees, garden, etc. For bath water I sometimes use a sump pump to run it out the window to a pipe going to another rain barrel, then from there to the tree/yard on that side of the house. Mostly the bath water is transferred manually into the toilet tank after each flush. We use (ironically) cat litter bottles bc they have a large "mouth" so you can move them easily. There's more than one tank-full of water in each bottle. The kids fill them after they bathe. You can use a bucket. This is incredibly low-tech, and the only modification is I take the lid off the toilet tank and close the supply valve. Probably only saves a small amount of $ bc water is cheap, but it saves a lot of water. Just the toilet is >1000 gallons per year (1.5 gal per flush x 365 days x # of flushes/day). The specifics of how you do things depends on the layout of your house, yard, etc. For example, if your washer is by an exterior wall on a house with siding, then it's easy to run a line out. If you have a pier and beam house, you similarly might be able to access plumbing with no digging, and then run lines out to a distribution network.

[@tompaterson639]

Hey, Grady. Really enjoyed the look a SA's water infrastructure. The SA River tunnel isn't the only flood tunnel as there is another on the near Westside. Over in Seguin, cooling water for the Rio Nogales generating station ( now owned and operated CPSE ) is recycled waste water! Maybe you could do a video describing how a combined cycle generation station works. Really enjoy your engineering videos. Good luck with your new book!

[@endrawes0]

Pre-ordered and can't wait to get my copy! Love you channel and as the son of a civil engineer, I LOVE learning about infrastructure. Thanks for your commitment to teaching and sharing your experience with the world!

[@jordansime6684]

This is what I've always wanted to see from your channel. I absolutely love the scale models and demos (and would very much appreciate their continuation), but having that content alongside on-location infrastructure tourism would be a dream come true!! Thank you for continuing to make excellent videos!! EDIT: Also wanted to say I'm super excited abut your book!!

[@tomjohnson9338]

We have learned a few lessons about more harmonious flood control. I think riverfront parks that double as seasonal/storm flood overflow are GREAT.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Certainly less disruptive than low-income neighborhoods that double as flood control. Yeah, I'm looking at YOU [several other cities]!

[@guavamnia]

Thanks for this video! I moved to San Antonio a little over four years ago and appreciate you doing a video that features my new hometown. I would love to see more videos like this!

[@thegrumpytexan]

As a fellow Texan and engineer (though not civil) who lives not too terribly far from Grady and has both an oil pipeline and overhead electrical running through my property it sure is nice to see some of this. The oil pipeline goes to a tank farm (with interesting geodesic domes on them.) I pre-ordered the book after seeing the electrical grid preview - the illustrations are perfect to get my 7 year old interested, especially after one of his "teachers" at school claimed he didn't know what he was talking about when he told the teacher the tube up on a power pole is a "transformer" - she genuinely thought it was a battery! Some of your subjects I know - and now I know even better thanks to you, Grady. A lot of people don't realize just how much work was put into our world to make it as stable and comfortable as it is!

[@davidoverholt4775]

This video is basically a book announcement, and I feel like you should have leaned into that harder in your title! Thank you Grady! I had my signed copy with pin ordered before you even got to describing it. As a mechanical engineer focused in off road vehicles for most of my career, I love the accessible way you present engineering topics from the Civil discipline in particular. Its always great to expand technical knowledge and see the different challenges we all encounter that non-engineers never really consider. Congratulations on your book, and please keep up the great work!

[@OlivierCaron]

If only all infomercials were as interesting as this one!

[@WanderTheNomad]

Reminds me of Minute Earth and Kurzgesagt's book releases.

[@ScottFenstermacher]

Pre-order made, I can't wait to see this book. I deal with computer infrastructure, but understanding everything that lies beneath the surface has always fascinated me. Keep up the great work and content!!!

[@danielpapukchiev3754]

same! and who knows, maybe we end up rebuilding some destroyed infrastructure some day and this becomes super applicable

[@ThunderChasers]

Been watching your channel for a while. I'm barely a minute in, and hearing my home city and seeing it in your video is so cool. Can't wait to watch the rest.

[@Navitas2003]

I have binge watch all your content and I think what you present is wonderful. I just pre-ordered your book and it's going to be a gift for my son. Engineering is such a wonderful thing that is the essence of this Society on it infrastructure. Thank you for putting out such wonderful stuff

[@beasleysproductions]

Great video, The book looks cool. :) I'd suggest investing in a color checker for on sight filming and don't shoot on auto.

[@BlueBetaPro]

Very cool, every city has unique infrastructure projects that no one else knows about but finding out about them is hard, also other country specific things like electrical infrastructure etc. I wish you or someone would do a series on other cities and their unique projects. My own city has the worlds largest (At least it used to a couple years ago) thermal solar array for use in the city wide district heating network. Gas flows through the solar thermal panels because it's easier to pump which is then connected to a heat exchanger connected to the closed loop district heating network. They use the chemical Uranin (Fluorescein) which is a florescent green chemical in the water so it's easy to spot a leak. So if green florescent water starts coming out of your tap you know you have a leak somewhere possibly in the heat exchanger in your house that is used to heat the incoming cold water supply line.

[@davidspoelstra8527]

I've been watching your videos for a while now and sharing them as well. I just have to say that this new format where we see you (the full bodied you) is my new favorite thing about your videos to date. I love that you are going out to the sites and taping your dialogue instead of dubbing over a video. I hadn't realized it before, but your past videos, although great, didn't connect me to another person in the world. This one does just that. You in your environment and some of your backstory. I will DEFINITELY be pre-ordering your book. I don't think I would have been as apt to do so without this new video format. Keep on keeping on and doing great work. I can't wait to share this book with my six-year-old daughter who constantly seeks knowledge about how infrastructure works in this world. I'm excited for the chance to not only teach her but learn myself.

[@Prededator777]

I've been a long time follower of your channel due to the amazing quality of your videos and practical demonstrations. You should have seen how ecstatic I was to learn you also live in San Antonio. It is such an honor to live in the same city as you. Please keep up the great content and your passion for sharing knowledge! I'll be supporting you every step of the way

[@halonothing1]

You know, I always thought repurposing lightly treated grey water for non-residential use would be a great idea. While the concept in this video isn't quite reusing grey water, it's a similar idea so I love it! It demonstrates a lot of the logistical challenges that would come from my grey water idea, like having to build a completely separate infrastructure to transport/treat it while keeping it separate from potable water. I wouldn't imagine it would be practical for small municipalities and rural areas. But absolutely for a community like yours'.

[@eDoc2020]

It's certainly possible and is sometimes even implemented locally on individual campuses. A relatively common thing I've seen is using rainwater and sink drain water to run toilets.

[@legofranak]

So great, congratulation! You’ve already changed how I notice the constructed environment, although not everyone is happy about that-my kids moan about “dad lectures” in the car when I start nerding out about construction progress on the Van Wyck Expressway

[@brettvv7475]

Hah! My kids complain just the same when I do it.

[@LKSbethebest]

Found you a few days ago, bought your book immediately. Thank you for the high quality content in these trying times :)

[@cooperkinsley3254]

Grady your stuff has really helped me get interested in my future major and all of your stuff is amazing! Knowing you live in San Antonio too is awesome!

[@ryanvoots9827]

Looks like some kind of youtube compression artifacts, or color grading or something went off for the scenes when grady is standing in front of the water towers. anyone know what would cause that? edited to add: specifically i mean the yellow parts on his shirt and some weird yellow artifacts on his hands and face from the looks of it.

[@griffinrupe]

Possibly a problem with the camera itself. If you compare the final scene with him in the area he usually shoots videos and the on-site parts, every scene has some kind of different color grading issue. The yellowish squares on his shirt are the most obvious but the other scenes have what looks almost like a tritanopia filter on it.

[@fancyasandwich]

Green screen

[@ryanvoots9827]

I'm not sure i'd expect chroma keying to do that, but maybe something trying to color correct the image from a blue screen adding hue to everything then? Since yellow and blue together make grey in rgb.

[@leocurious9919]

Maybe the camera is broken. Its not sharp, low contrast etc.

[@rayoflight62]

Not a compression artifact, that would smear the colours at the edges. With high probabilities, it is a defective CMOS sensor, which can't manage some excess UV coming from the sky.

[@TheGreatMelonyt]

As someone who's native to San Antonio, I'm really impressed by the depth of our city's infrastructure

[@qwerty112311]

Not really impressive. The depth of water tunnel 3 in New York is about 500 feet in some places.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@qwerty112311 One of you is using depth as a measure below grade, and the other seems to be using the word to mean complexity. edit: If our curator is standing above an underground structure, it could also be measured in "depth below Grady".

[@Ivanthegreat141]

@@qwerty112311 that wasn’t what he was talking about…

[@TheMozilla79]

I love the in person formatting. It's so natural for you and the focus of your videos. What a wonderful way to present and highlight the reasons why we can live so comfortably!

[@rmyers99]

Grady, your passion for this topic has long inspired me to take an interest in the world around me and I look forward to the book. Love watching you nerd out about water management.

[@db8823]

Your book sounds interesting. I am an electric engineer in the natural gas SCADA and station design field and created stations flowing gas from fields near major pipelines that run from Texas to NY. I think your book will be great to show my kids to appreciate what it takes to make their lives safe and enjoyable.

[@QuantumHistorian]

This was nice, but I much prefer your videos where you explain the principle behind things, rather than just pretty pictures of examples.

[@metamorphiczeolite]

Grady, I really appreciate you and your campaign to make the world appreciate infrastructure. I’m an engineering geologist who works on infrastructure so I know how fascinating infrastructure is! I preordered your book. Thanks for sharing the results of your hard work!

[@EngineeringwithDrKelseyJoy]

Amazing video! I remember finding it fascinating when I lived in Florida that I had two water sources at my house - 1 standard tap water for the house and the other reclaimed water for the sprinkler system at the house. I always find WWTPs and how different communities handle wastewater intriguing!

[@jweezy101491]

I love the completion of the city trilogy. There’s the Anthropocene reviewed book for social aspects, the 99% invisible city for design aspects, and now this for engineering!

[@Tr1sh4Lynn]

Why stop at three? There are more dimensions of city elements than just social, design, and engineering! That way more types of video content creators involved!

[@ThomasPlaysTheGames]

If you wanted, you could go in depth into San Antonio's water situation in relation to their confined pressurized/artesian aquifer & aquifer recharge zone. Interesting hydrological topic though it may be tangential to your expertise.

[@jfs0000]

The largest city in the US that’s able to get a large majority of our water from groundwater sources! Once the SAWS contract with Canyon lake lapses it’ll be 100% most years!

[@danielreynolds9631]

Thanks Grady! Wow, I watched so many of your videos before getting to this one and recognized the Water tower style immediately and then you said San Antonio. The one on the left with the Stone bottom is exactly like the one in my neighborhood too, but we don't have the second one. So cool to see videos on KZbin that you enjoy and then find out that you're from the same place! Keep up the great work, love it!

[@EricPagendarm]

I look forward to these videos every time they come out. Genuinely I think every single one has been worth watching. As someone who loves knowing how things work, your content has given such an improved appreciation for the constructed world.

[@thesweetone]

Thanks Grady, really fascinating. I come from an area where fresh water is ... everywhere, it actually becomes an issue for several months of the year ... like now where ground water covers 3 quarters of an acre of my 2 acre property (normally there is no surface water). Even during a severe drought about 7 years ago where we didn't get rain for 4 months with 35degree sun (over 100F) i had water 4 feet below grade in my well while others went bone dry.

[@jrodriguez1374]

This is an awesome look at San Antonio's hydro-infrastructure! Here's a very time-relevant question: are San Antonio's water systems ready to deal with wild fires in the area???

[@newtybot]

Naw captain we bakin’

[@tbboardhed2]

This is so cool, I moved to San Antonio about a year ago so still learning new thing about the city. Thank you for making the video. Gives me something to go look at. 👍👍👍👍

[@gates10611]

Big fan of the channel since you launched it. Stay true to your dreams, love your passion and rejoice in your success. Pre ordering books is huge yall let's help our favorite engineer out

[@adamgonzalez7450]

I’ve lived in San Antonio for two decades and didn’t know this! Great video!!

[@JonathanAlexanderM]

Engineers deserve way more credit than what’s already given to them. Taking the natural world and making it safer and better for so many people around the globe.💫

[@maartenvandenbranden1177]

Pre-ordered from Belgium. Great video's, keep up the great work. Happy to sponser your efforts!

[@hibrad]

Pre-ordered! Excited for the book, your content is always amazing. Congrats on getting it published!

[@Tenetri]

Posted 43 seconds ago? I"M IN!

[@oksowhat]

as an engineering student i would certainly like to read the book, and will advise others to do so, persuing engineering has certainly changed my perspective of our modern world,

[@woodmanvictory]

I would love to see more about San Antonio, When I visited I would have never imagined it being on a flood plain or that is had such complex water control structures. Congrats on the book Grady! Also you are completely right, publishers LOVE pre-orders because until launch they have no idea what to expect with new authors/books. Good Luck!

[@shakenbakejake25]

I live in San Antonio and have driven by that so many times going by 281. When I found out you lived in San Antonio I definitely had to check out the rest of your vids, love your work!

[@Martititi]

[Correction: the issue was later fixed] I'm pretty sad the signed copy can't be ordered outside the US. Good job on writing this book nonetheless! I'll be sure to read it as soon as it's issued!

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Fixed!

[@Martititi]

​@@PracticalEngineeringChannel You're the best! Big thanks for all your work from a civil engineering student in France! Have a good one.

[@gbotz8224]

Love your videos man ! can’t wait to watch this one :)

[@caleballen4721]

So happy to hear about your book! I'm placing an order now. It reminds me of my favorite childhood book, The Way Things Work! Really shaped me as a person, so getting your encyclopedic style engineering book is a no brainer for me

[@jacobshaw808]

I’ll be super excited to buy your book! You do such a great job explaining complex topics for the layman without unnecessarily oversimplifying. You’d make a great textbook author or college prof IMO

[@johnself]

Just what I needed to watch while sipping my coffee 👍

[@gus473]

👍🏼 Author, author! Was writing a book more difficult than you imagined....? 🤔

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Yes it was!

[@armyflyboy2006]

I have ran those trails many times. Thank you for making this vid Grady! Your first on-site vid is a hit!

[@mike74624]

Congrats! a job well done. This book is going to be a much needed eye opener for very important aspects of our modern life. And because these structures and facilities work very smooth and efficient they are faded in the background without the well deserved recognition and appreciation.

[@philkelsen3872]

Your content is very informative to laymen as well as professionals. I am a water infrastructure manager in New Zealand and I highly enjoy watching your videos as they provide a simple viewpoint on how our rather complex systems work. Your passion is evident and I thank you for your service! We are very much close to sea level and would love to see some stormwater videos as to how systems are designed regarding levels of service (return periods of rainfall or expected flood levels) as these could be extremely educational to the uninformed.

[@flyboyx8288]

You literally make the best videos and do an excellent job of producing your content. please keep up the fantastic work. I would say they are about as professional as it gets without being done by a television team.

[@J.D.E]

Your excitement makes me smile. Keep up the great work! Love the videos!

[@MbreezySV]

Watched one video and had to preorder your book. As a mechanical engineer this stuff intrigues me so much as there much we never even discuss in school with regards to these types of infrastructures.

[@Adam_Malkovich]

Preorders book because I am always excited to see new Practical Engineering videos posted and am always engaged by the content. My brother is in school for engineering and wants to be an aerospace engineer, so I’ve taken an interest in his field because I at least want some understanding. Plus I think the book will be great when I have a family. Thanks for the amazing content and keep it up!

[@CymruCreator]

Yay! an advert! congrats on your book Grady and thanks for telling us about it. Some youtube channels are pretty good at making ads relevant and interesting and you always do a good job. I always enjoy your ad section because it's authentically delivered and doesn't feel like a script read. Nice tour of your town too. It's inspired me a little, as I love travel but rarely get to do it, but I'm realising there's so much to see that you might not otherwise consider.

[@saltmerchant749]

Absolutely love the production value on this episode and would love to see more in future if you were able to visit locations like this!

[@edythethompson7671]

I appreciate this video on the flood control measures in San Antonio. My grandfather was city engineer in the late 1950s-early 1960s and was heavily involved in flood control for the City. It was before I was born, but I heard stories about his work there. Thank you for the memories.

[@alexp3411]

Hey Grady, congrats for the book 🎉👏👏 I enjoy your videos every time, you've got on my permanent subscription Q for watching 😊 You always had great topics in your videos which packed with information and visual representation for the engendering concepts. The Easter egg from the end of the video was funny😄I could feel the cold over there, it was not easy filming in freezing temperatures, and your diction was not even afected by the cold 😄👏 Kep up with the good work. I salute you from Romania.

[@AmanSharma-xy9jf]

I'm so glad to see the you and the channel doing SO well! Will definitely order the book ASAP:)

[@joseventura4717]

Never have I ever jumped on a Creator's merch announcement faster than I just did with Grady's book. Thank you for the content you create and sharing the wonderful world that often goes unseen. I've always found infrastructure as beautiful as the world around it and it's something that I could never really express until I found your channel!

[@bezoar21]

Always enjoy your videos and now I have pre-ordered your book. I hope the launch goes well for you! I have 2 teen sons who enjoy watching the videos with me and I'm sure they will like your book too.

[@michaeldrainer2299]

Grady, thanks for all your hard work. Your videos are excellent and the book will be a great compliment to these efforts. I just placed my order and will be giving it to my 10yr old son for Christmas. We have discussions almost daily about infrastructure while driving down the road. I’m certain we will enjoy it together.

[@billhuck1457]

Preorder is done!...September is a long way off though so hope you continue to make videos showing cool infrastructure in other cities beforehand. Love your channel

[@huntermclaren322]

LOVE the on-location style! This is a great move for you, Grady. Congratulations on the book launch, I can't wait to read it.

[@reidcushman3562]

You are as always a fantastic ambassador for the amazing (yet practical) engineering all around us that we so often take totally for granted. But also this time a fine ambassador for San Antonio. I wish I had known about this the last time I visited. If I come back again..... And I'm definitely buying the book.

[@DamnJuhl]

Pre-Ordered the book and a shirt, really excited! Always love your content and the book looks amazing!

[@cs_fl5048]

Always enjoy your videos. Although I am inherently curious about nearly everything your obvious love of what you are doing is, without doubt, a major part of my enjoyment. (preordered the book!)

[@PAD058]

Another great episode. As an fellow engineer it is always good to expand your knowledge in areas outwith of your own sphere. Can wait for the book to arrive!

[@sixstringedthing]

Fantastic work Grady. Congratulations on the book, I'm excited to read it. Your enthusiasm for the less celebrated parts of the built environment is certainly contagious!

[@azaduffy]

Book ordered mate. Hoping it will be shipped to Australia! I have been loving your channel over the years. Keep up the fantastic work!