[Physics] Does water maintain equal level in connected vessels

fluid dynamicsfluid-statics

Consider a system as illustrated below:

enter image description here

There are two 55 gallon barrels used to store water coming down the gutter.
These barrels are connected together on the bottom to maintain equal water level between them.
They are fed by a 4" vertical pipe connected to a 2" horizontal pipe.

When the 4" vertical pipe on one end fills with water, the water will run into the horizontal pipe and begin to fill the barrels.
Will the barrels maintain the same level as in the 4" dia. vertical pipe, assuming input flow rate isn't too much to overwhelm the 2" horizontal pipe?
In other words: is $h_1 = h_2$ in the diagram?
I think it should be so, so if it is true what physical principle is at work to keep the levels equal when the diameter of the barrel is different than the diameter of the pipe?

Best Answer

Yes, the levels will all be at the same height.

The pressure (relative to atmospheric) of a water column open at top to the atmosphere is linearly proportional to the depth at that point from the surface of the water. Very roughly, the pressure goes up about 1 PSI for every 2 feet down from the surface. Imagine if one barrel had 1 foot of water in it and the other 3 feet. The pressure at the bottom of the second barrel would be 1 PSI higher than at the bottom of the first. This would cause water to flow thru the horizontal pipe from the second to the first.

The only way this system is stable (water isn't actively flowing around changing levels in the barrels), is when the pressures at the bottom of the two barrels are the same, which means the heights of the water in each barrel are the same. All the water surfaces are at the same height, so all the pressures everywhere at the same height are the same. When this is not the case, water will flow until it is the case.

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