Utility Stuff

* See also Hephaestus ( Hephaestus_Power_Facility - Source of Power )
* See also Central_Control ( And Ryan's Office )
* See also Utility_Distribution
* See also Rapture Air
* See also RT&T - The Telephone Company
* See also Sewers in Rapture and Sanitation
* See also Jet Postal - The Pneumo ( small package shipping - was it a 'utility' ?? )
* See also TechnicalDrawings
* See also Era Electronics ( an automation enabler )
* See also Businesses 
* See also Tunnels and Viaducts ( carrying utilities across Rapture )
==Rapture Had to Have LOTS of Utility Systems to Sustain Its ExistenceBioShock's Rapture had significant plausible Worldbuilding effort put into its Story. The writers for Infinite BS seemed to have significantly abandoned such efforts.==
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Rapture Was Built With The Requirement Of It Having ABUNDANT Power : 
Electric Power was the first requirement criteria for Rapture's chosen site. Thus Rapture's proximity to geothermal (volcanic) power. ( Note - Observe how Rapture is "Lit Up Like A Christmas Tree" even when half ruined. ) Generating all that Power would be acceptable even at a lesser efficiency ( but cheaper/simpler engineering ). Geothermally-heated HOT WATER also is circulated to keep Rapture Warm ( the Ocean water at Rapture's northerly location was barely over freezing ).
Ryan was mentioned to be an Expert in 'Power' systems ( likely one source of his vast fortune ) - giving plausible story reasons how Rapture could exist.
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Kyburz a Bit Late on the Scene ( SitS 1967 Newspaper Article About His 1947 Disappearance ) :
1947 - When Rapture's Construction was already well under way ( alot of power would have already been needed to do that, and to power the adding sections of The City -- beiing there for the first at the 1946 dedication ). 
Stanley Kyburz ( a university-trained Australian electrical engineer ) was likely associated with some Ryan Industries business venture, who was impressed by Ryan who had already set up Hephaestus ( electrical genius ... ).   Ryan needed expertise to expand and maintain the power system for the growing city ( an expansion which took til 1951-1952, and which saw a continuous expansion of the entire system ).
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Electrical Safety - An Issue in Rapture :
That TV half submerged in water and still operating in Suchong's apartment (in BS1) is a pretty good trick.  Even with the likely threat of leaks in Rapture, waterproofing appliances and equipment would be costly, as well as not easily done.   On the other hand, Suchong could afford new expensive models, which might be largely run with Bio-Electronics ( neat would have been IT being a Color model, like that one seen in Porter's Living Room in his 'Bat Cave' in the Minervas Den DLC ).  Porter's TV model doesn't look much like a OLED (Organic LED) Flatscreen though.
Simple water protection is properly operating Circuit Breakers for all electric power lines in the City and within the buildings electrics.  Which means : In the Rapture Reborn MMORPG, with all the dripping/splashing water, the Player will be doing more than a little resetting of Circuit Breakers everywhere ( You Better get a 'Team' member NPC who has alot of training as an Electrician ... )
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Geothermal Power Generation :
* Heating water to generate steam ( water injected into volcanic vents ). Super heating of water under that much pressure ( more energy in the steam/water than at Surface air pressure ).
* Heat Exchangers/Superheaters ( high efficiency for power conversion and control of "working fluid" )
* Turbines, or Reciprocating engine ( being easier to make and repair with lower-tech materials )
* Condensers using the Ocean's cold water ( steam may go on to feed Rapture's fresh water supply ), needed to get rid of the waste product steam ( venting into 280 lb/sq in ocean pressure IS inefficient ) ...
* Conventional electric generators. Some 'pumps' may be Geo-Steam powered ( all that hot water that needed transporting across Rapture )
* The Southern part of the city is closer to the Volcano's center, where there was the greater geothermal activity ( and the seabed being more unstable ).
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Fully Electrified Rapture :
Many people today might not realize that Electric power wasn't available in many (most rural) parts of the US less than 2 decades earlier of when Rapture started ( 15 yrs before the end of WW2 was the "Great Depression" ... ). Many of the huge hydroelectric dam systems were started/built in the 1920s and 1930s ( Hoover Dam, etc ... ).
It is possible that Ryan had built a good part of his fortune making equipment for the expanding Electric Industry in the US, and other parts of the World. It WAS ( game mentioned ) his area of technical expertise ( He is sort of a Howard Hughes type character ).
Rapture's cheap power from a geothermal source would be one key element of making the City possible -- perhaps it was some project in Iceland that originally gave Ryan ideas. Nuclear power generation technology had not even started ( let alone become a commercial reality ).
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Utilities in Basements of Buildings :
* Basements/foundations often half-embedded in Bedrock ( No, it wasn't "the Flintstones" Construction company )
* 'City Mains' utility connect to 'Building Mains' that go up and connect each floor ( power/water/air/etc ... )
* Maintenance shafts up thru building. often link 'alleyways' behind rows of shops
* Heavy Pumps/ building's sumps ( pump either directly to the ocean (high pressure) or to the city sewer/drains )
* Elevator mechanisms ( they are usually mostly at the bottom of the elevator shaft, not the top )
* Garbage chutes/bins, fed from levels above
* Connections to the 'understreet' haulage (utility) tramway system for freight transfer.
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To Pump or Not To Pump - That Of Course Is a Silly Question :
It would be logical for the pumping apparatus used for the AE and Bathysphere Stations ( and even the Maintenance Airlocks ) to act as "backups" for the standard pumping systems each complex has ( used to routinely/continuously drain the usual sump leakage, or in emergencies to handle larger leaks before repairs can be accomplished ). Redundancy of such a critical system would NOT be missing for Rapture.
Mentioned elsewhere : Provisions in extremis would be made to pump also from adjacent buildings ( the system of pipes/valve tie-ins already in place ), and to be able move in additional portable units from various Maintenance Depots ( many of those sized to match the Utility Aqueduct/Tunnel system that runs throughout the city ). Consider that such 'adjacent' systems were employed when the buildings were first built and sealed. Prefabs structures coming from the surface or in-place construction below would exist initially filled with water ( BEFORE they were pumped out for finishing and occupation ). All of them actually would be TEST pumped-out multiple times to check if the pressure containment requirements were met before their placement.
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Utility Systems Largely Inside, Thus With Space Required For The Conduits :
Utilities really wouldn't much be stuck on the OUTSIDE of building ( except power mains crossing Rapture, with major (combined) ones still being inside pressurized 'aqueducts' for Heating Water ). This wasn't just to minimze interface points passing between the inside and outside, but it also makes Maintenance so much easier. Sufficient space would be made available inside all structures for the required Utilities. Protected passages along other 'inside' transportation passages would be used/combined-with when possible. Seals and insulation would STILL be required between building 'compartment' sections -- in case of water pressure integrity loss (flooding).
Redundant utility paths would be used. Systems would generally be built to be leak resistant.
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Geothermal Plant, Mark 2 :
* Smaller injection well with steam turbine/generator - many added to scale up Rapture's power systems as City grew.
* I mean really -- Rapture is near Iceland where Geothermal technology has been used for over 50 years ( in Raptures timeline starting as of 1946 )
* Note - the monstrosity seen in Hephaestus Core was another one of Ryan's "built to impress/awe" projects ( regular tours were given of Hephaestus ) - a big maintenance headache, and not the most efficient system.
* Various industrial chemicals are recovered from the geothermal vents.
* There was a drilling rig used to build these somewhere, that might prove useful.
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Electricalutility.jpg|Knife Switches were simple and could include Circuit Breakers 
NoFlushToiletsColumbia.jpg|water reservoirs would be needed locally
Utilityz.jpg
Steampoweredgenerator.jpg|WW2 Era Steam Engine-Generator
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Hydraulic Surge in Heat Pipes : 
Standard hydro-engineering methods. Those big pipes ( you saw in Hephaestus ) are more complicated than you think ...
Surge Chambers to absorb shocks of suddenly turned-on pumps and valves. Emergency venting valves ( its heated sea water, so in extreme situations, venting out into the ocean isn't much of a loss ).
Temperature Expansion Joints - If the hot water stops/changes temp, miles of pipe want to contract on cooling ( water down at 600 ft pressure boils at 400 F vs water freezing at 32 F ).
Changes in altitudes(depth) cause fluids to have significantly varying forces/pressures depending on height differentials ( ie- water is being pumped UP out of the Geothermal area, which is downslope in the Sea Mount crater from much of Rapture. Water being sent to the rest of the City has to work against gravity. )
For the game, there would be a generalized way of handling these things ( no B.S. in Engineering required ) , but it is just part of the added 'logical' detail, which creates goals for Players for in-game activity.
Ex- In their own 'base', Players can add the improved thingees, or keep fixing the periodic failures of components ( mopping up the mess and drying out their stuff ).  Safety mechanisms are recommended by the City Council.   Various City Projects will include fixing and extending various water (and other) systems  for New Rapture.
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Rapture IS Air Conditioning :
A technology coming into common use mere decades earlier than Rapture's "Founding". Major developments in the real world :
* 1939 Packard - the first air-conditioned car
* Air Conditioners used as mass consumer product in homes after WW2
* Installed in Theaters in the 1920s
* Building and Railroad Passenger Car air conditioners in the 1930s
ALL the air in Rapture is conditioned one way or another - temperature, humidity, Oxygen/'C02' content ( add sanitization and odor controls for Rapture's more affluent areas ).
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Air Siphons to the Surface of the Ocean, Which are Flexible (like a hose) : 
* Has to be strong enough not to collapse from the water pressure ( that's 280 psi at a possible lower end ). It also has weight which has to be supported (buoyancy).
* Flexible so that the wandering icebergs can't destroy it ( probably could be reeled-in - at least for servicing OR when icebergs are spotted in vicinity from Lighthouse watch-station ).
* Length probably less than 600 feet as operated off tops of buildings - still probably at least 200 foot ( which should be the 'top' safety allowance ).
* Possibly an emergency ( insurance/redundancy ) system 'feature' for various buildings. 
* A solution for the early construction days before the primary systems were built/running
A number of BioShock Rapture Skybox pictures showed tall thin skyscrapers with what appeared to be very tall antenna spires. This may be (or be rationalized as) 'siphons' being used in half-wrecked Rapture by BS1 times. 
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How To Produce Oxygen : Electrolysis :
Electrolysis process production of Oxygen from Water using electricity ( 2 H2O ---> O2 + 2 H2) can be used in Rapture ( a somewhat electricity expensive option ).
The (H2) Hydrogen produced CAN be (compressed and) used as a burning fuel within Rapture ( with no-smoke/no-pollution result, just water vapor ), BUT burning it consumes Oxygen from Rapture's air in that vicinity. This Hydrogen Fuel could also be piped up to the Light House/Near-Surface Industrial Units to be usefully burned ( to heat/power its systems ) up above ( and thus NOT take Oxygen out of Rapture ) OR to manufacture (relatively) pure water. Otherwise the Hydrogen would need to be disposed/dispersed out into the Ocean water.
The problem with Electrolysis is that the Carbon Dioxide in Rapture's air ( which the restored oxygen gets added to ) would NOT be removed. It would build up and would eventually become fatally poisonous ( requiring venting and air replacement ). SO plants in Farms/Forests ( which absorb the Carbon ) would be the better solution used to refresh most of Raptures air. ( Some general electrolysis systems might be employed for emergencies -- and possibly BEFORE Rapture's Farms became operational ).
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Fractionating Air Processes ( 'fractional distillation' by compression turning the constituent gases like 'O2' into liquid to separate them ). This is an industrial large scale process not conducive to localization for emergency systems. It could be used for Rapture Industry and provide 'Bottled O2' (cylinders) for temporary emergency systems. 
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Fresh Water In Rapture :
It is Ironic - With all that water outside, but you can't really drink it. 
Obtaining it : Osmotic systems (pressure driven) vs Distillation (energy intensive)
Hephaestus has the convenient heat source for the boiling required with mass distillation of fresh water ( and then it has to be piped from there ).
There can be Local distilling of water using the primary heating system ( hot water from Hephaestus ) for some significant partial heating, and then via electric to provide the boiling temps.
There are Large(r) amounts of fresh water required for Farms and Industrial uses ( again 'piped' to the locations - often miles ).
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Columbia, on the other hand, lives within a Incohesive Fantasy World, so all such basic supply problems seem just simply handled via Magic. ( Enough potable water to waste on a Surfing-wave Beach huge patch of water ).
(( Perhaps they only drink Whiskey there - Foamy beach of Beer ? With Prohibition and Sobriety historically pushed by REAL fundamentalist-like religion, now sorta existing in the writer's "Columbia" whacky-stupid world. Columbia THEN being all drenched in Booze would logically 'Fit Right In' - Right ? Several game commentators have said that the Infinite BS game writers tried to show how clever they were - but really WERE NOT very clever at all - the thing turned into a MESS of contradictory themes and watered-down social issue lipservice. )) 
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Gas in Rapture's Red Pipes - Hydrogen : 
Hydrogen Gas Can be manufactured in Rapture via electrolysis ( using electric power from Hephaestus so it doesn't have to be imported. )   Hydrogen does NOT generate pollution when burned - only Water Vapor when burned with Oxygen from the inside atmosphere ( and Oxygen is the other by-product of electrolysis generation - a saleable product itself ).   Hydrogen burns with a blue flame ( when we see the leaks it is not a clean flame so impurities can be adding some color ).
There (likely) may be Methane Gas Fuel production from Garbage ( another Sinclair Opportunity ?? )   Possible used as a fuel for long range subs ( like the ones used for fishing - distances too far for batteries alone ).   Methane is more compact (energy dense) than Hydrogen ( an important factor in a vehicle ), and can be catalyzed into larger-moleculed gases which can be easily liquefied.   
We saw many high pressure gas cylinders laying around in the game, and it is likely they contained such fuels ( renewably produced locally in Rapture ).
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GARBAGE Disposal :
*** find early mention of garbage (in 'Part 2' ?)
"Keep America Beautiful" (clean) was a public campaign in the early 1960s. Before that time, it was less an issue in the public consciousness. Rapture of course can be allowed to be 'ahead of its time'.
Design consideration would probably be given to try to keep Rapture's litter/garbage under control, especially with its more restricted spaces (ie- smells can't go anywhere). Open areas could be hosed out or cleaned by machinery ( labor IS a significant expense ).
One possibility : Local pneumatic/chute disposal system for buildings that took garbage down to the utility levels for transport to wherever for its disposal.
We saw what appeared to be letters moving through transparent tubes in BS2 in the (Atlantic_Express_(game_level)) without the pneumatic canisters ( which a real 'Pneumo' system requires to work ). There was an amusing broken segment which the Player could extract canned foods and medicine from ( no matter how odd it was THAT was still operating ). That was intended for the Player to test their new Telekinesis Plasmid just acquired ( Which you needed 5 minutes later to open a stuck door - Wow, how convenient was that ??? ). We could adjust details there for that scene to actually be of a garbage system : Used diaper, dead rat, chunk of cement, cover of Sofia Lamb's book, pile of barnacle shells, broken Splicer mask, wad of used tissue paper, etc ... .
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The Dump
The Chutes and Pneumatic Disposal Units are integrated into buildings ( including 'drains' for surface cleaning/washout operations ). There are the Garbage Trams ( which run down on the utility/sewer level ) which do the haulage.
Sinclair, when he realized Ryan's long term plans to make Rapture self-sufficient, decided that Recycling would be a major opportunity. Note - a sign "To The Dump" seen in Paupers Drop in BS2 may indicate one of the locations of his garbage 'sorting' operation ( and giving employment to the 'down and out' locals - I'm sure we can hear a Audio Diary complaining of THAT ).
A Scene (rather heavy-handedly contrived) in 'The Novel' of someone murdering another citizen and then committing suicide over the dumping of garbage on someone else's business property. That was a bit too short-sighted/ignorant and heavy-handedly implying that Objectivism and Laissez-faire economics was problematic/unworkable. Unfortunately, the Novel's author took the 'No Laws' thing too far, ignoring that laws/ordinances enforcement WOULD HAVE TO EXIST for any such City to operate ( as well as his avoiding all the other societal 'Checks and Balances' involved OR NOT INVOLVED in that one little vignette ).
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Factoid From Somewhere - Things Not Rocket Science :
""Looking back, the most impressive achievements can be attributed to the Ancient Romans. They soldered 400 km of long water pipes made of Lead (Pb), with seams which could withstand upto 18 Atmospheres of Pressure (!), and conjured up stoves and tubs made of bronze, not to mention the arts of their goldsmiths and armorers.""
OK - Roman Version of Rapture ... ( If you MMORPG Players really 'must have it', YOU will have to organize and create the customization all yourself - I would be someone working on the Vanilla Flavor Rapture, mostly ). Perhaps a set of scenes for some Splicer Hallucination ? "I Came, I Saw, I Spliced" ???
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Fire Systems In Rapture :
* Big Daddies Doing Fireman Duty - Logical - Being able to breath self-contained air is a big reason for them to be used this way
* Lots of water to Splash about to put out fires ( reservoirs of fresh water in most building complexes to maintain tap pressure ). Only if really needed would salt water be used.
* CO2 is usable as long as the inhabitants are removed ( so not to be Asphyxiated ).
* Compressed air (part of work utilities) offers 'emergency station' safety spots for civilians ( piped in air in fireproofed/sealed rooms. )
* Fire Engines ? ( Utility Tram mechanism movable to back-up/reinforce inbuilt systems - Pump Units and Paramedics )
* Pump systems - existing in every building complex ( for drainage ) can do double duty
* Fire Alarms, Axes, Buckets, Hoses, Overhead Sprinklers( for fire suppression ), etc... were left out of Rapture
* Emergency (local) Backup Power (and lighting)
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The Fire Suppression Systems :
* System of Local Fire Hydrants ( supplied from the normal pressurize fresh water system ).
* Most High-rise buildings had Roof Tanks as backup to the City water supply lines.
* Small local Fire 'Stations' with hoses, extinguishers, axes, breathing equipment ( air is used up rapidly in a closed space like Rapture )
* Volunteer Fire Department ( qualifying is a 'certified' Civic Prestige Achievement and game mission event )
* Basic structure of Rapture is Concrete and Metal/Glass which are non-flammable, but many interior/surfacing/decorations/Object  burn quite well. ( You use up all the AIR/Oxygen burning and you die pretty quick ... )
* City Fire Marshal has inspection duties (quests) to verify proper equipment is maintained. And likewise inspect for  hazards.
* Periodic 'Fire' Events in the City will take place that Players can take part in handling it ( or witnessing )
* Fire Alarm system tie into Public Address and other alarms and the City Security system.
* Splicers sometimes set fires as diversions for their raids or as a retreat tactic.
* Automatic Sprinkler systems still operational - Though they were largely 'optional' and to be mostly found in the better quality apartment residences and commercial establishments ( not required by law in Old Rapture ).
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Rapture's Drainage System :
Drains and catchments on every level of Rapture with channels leading to the lower levels where the pumps were.
Would have to be there from the start when the place was constructed - The surface prefab structural buildings were built filled with water and taken to the bottom and fastened to the sea floor, joined to other sections, then sealed and pumped out, AND cleaned, and then their interiors were finished. The drains would be there to extract all the water ( and the washout to remove salt/sea scum ) as part of that process.
Pumps from adjacent building could be used in Emergencies.
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It is a Gas 
Gas Holder ( those tall cylindrical framework supported things you see in old city pictures, and in Noir movies ). They store and pressurize gas used by consumers and industry. When Burning a fuel, you unfortunately need to get rid of the combustion exhaust or it will start asphyxiating people ( Rapture is a closed-in volume or air - without a nice/handy open sky to vent the stuff to ).
Rapture's gas use ( we saw all those interactively combustible pipes in Rapture ) would require some system to first produce and then STORE the gas. You need pressure pumps to make up for a lesser volume of storage ( huge voluminous storage tanks are too expensive for Rapture ).
Gas is useful for local heating of air or water ( when you lose most of the 'heat' if it has to be piped any distance ), as well as various industrial/manufacturing processes which need intense heat. 
Hydrogen ? When burned creates water vapor, and is fairly easily produced by hydrolysis ( an electro-chemical process producing hydrogen and oxygen from water using electricity ). You still have the issue of its 'burning' sucking the Oxygen out of the air.
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STILL I would thing very much common devices in Rapture would be ELECTRICALLY-Powered.
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Mentioned in One of the BioShock Analysis Articles on the Interwebz - Ocean Water There Quite Cold :
Near freezing. SO in any parts of Rapture where the Heating Systems have broken down/declined in efficiency, it will be quite chilly. One would expect that the system ( which would work by piping hot water from the Geothermal Vents near Hephaestus all across the City ) would be fairly robustly made ( to last many decades ) yet fairly simple, so may largely continue to work even with little maintenance.
Still - more places with frosty breath and mists and near-frozen things that don't work ( and not just in the Ice Rink ).
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Air Vents as Secret Passages :
Note that on many of my extended Rapture level maps 'secret passages' thru the air vents ( the square vent covers you can break out and get passage through to access spaces usually blocked by other obstacles ) are indicated for the ones existing in the Solo games.  There would actually be many others ( whole systems of them in fact ) on the MMORPG game maps, as well as various access to other utility systems within the walls.
Rapture is actually a rabbit warren of such pathways needed to access the many systems that keep Rapture livable - air/electricity/heating/water/communications/Pneumo/sewage - all are distributed through every part of the City.
As previously mentioned, Terrain Creation Tools would be provided to auto-stitch together such details when composing game building interior additions using the standard templates ( and new unique sections would comply with the various interconnects used by the City's utility systems ).
Understand that Splicers also know about these hidden passageways, so don't be surprised if when you come to that sharp blind corner in the vent-way that you meet a Splicer face to face, or some nasty surprise one has left for you.
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Glowing Power Lines ( Seen in Hephaestus - Ones set into doors to Ryan's Lair ) :
* Use to show live power conduits for repair jobs
* Visual Effect is a overlay with a sliding texture offset of the UV values (electric blue lines)
* Generic effect can be used (hints) for 'electrical' devices and 'shock' effects.
* Props of various junctions, indicators, switches, and other assorted gadgetry
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Bad Water - All of the Jugs of Distilled Water, Not just so the owner would water down the drinks ... :
Simply the water systems was unreliable for potable water ( or what came out of the taps was really bad ).
Activate a 'Sink' (BS1) and the water has an orange hue.
What comes out of the taps in Rapture ?  McDonagh might have preferred brass fittings ( as detailed in the Novel ) , but other people might have 'cheaped out'.  SO Rust from pipes after 15 years ( 20 by BS2 ).  And both would get whatever first goes into the pipes at the other end, and with Rapture's maintenance ( on the utility systems ) falling into great decline, you might be lucky to get any water at all.
Example in the Mermaid Lounge in Sirens Alley - distilled water ( Artisan brand jugs we see ) was served to customers with their meal ( since there is extensive kitchen facilities there and customers, before they were told that Monster was coming thru the airlock and most people got the hell out of there ).
Lots of bathtubs seem to have been used to store water ( abandoned ones got pretty slimey ).
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Observation : In Public Places All The Workings - Machinery/Exposed Pipes/etc ... Would Have Been Hidden :
Not talking about where damage has exposed stuff, but things obviously placed to out in the open.  In many locations (particularly businesses) all the fans and electric widgets and pipes/conduits would be covered over or closeted away in utility rooms  -- NOT left in the open to take a chunk out of some customers elbow or be exposed so someone can bonk their head on it, or even just clash with the Decor.   Environmental equipment usually isn't left in the open to be meddled/interfered with.  Of course the more lower-class the place, the less caring anyone would be ( we did go thru some areas like that - the ones with bare concrete walls ... ).  In the Real World equipment got retrofitted to buildings over decades ( electrics, phone systems, computers, replacement piping ), but Rapture is virtually new, and newly build buildings usually are designed to cluster and hide such things away, and prevent accidental damage to it or whoever might have run into it. 
The game level developers used such things as decorative objects instead of real decorations, to make various walls/ceilings less plain.   They had budgeted limited interior spaces to create ( I've shown on the maps many of the extensive 'hidden' areas required to make such a place function ), so they had to place such things in view in an attempt to hint at the infrastructure Rapture would have ( vague/fake machinery is also easy to produce versus something recognizable ) ..
The MMORPG would have alot more space, attempt to place things properly, have stuff 'behind the walls' which can be accessed via the objectified terrain system ( you can take down the interior walls ... )
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Wash/Rinse - Idea for much of the Public Areas of Rapture ( And Private Spaces as well ) :
Using an overhead sprinkler system regularly to clean the interior (of dust and such). A whole utility system : Hoses, Hydrants, Pipes and Pumps and Drains and Reservoirs and Reuse filtration, etc ...
Same is used for a Fire Suppression System - so it gets regular testing. 
Much cheaper than having people have to vacuum the interior ( or worse, just let the dust accumulate ).
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Damaged Bits and Bobs :
Jets of stuff from broken pipes - Freezing and Piles of Ice -- High-pressure air pipe could do that ( not much reason for coolant pipe in most places we see it, whereas compressed air has many uses ).
We see flaming gas jets coming from pipes.
We see water flowing from ceilings and bubbling out of floors.
We see bubbles emanating from mechanism out in the Ocean.
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The end points of most utilities are within local areas where irregularities require fitting them in within more customized layouts.
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Billing :
Things get paid for in Rapture - Like billing utilities meters and meter readers. Mailed Bills done with accounting ( computer generated bills ). Bank payments within the whole system. Same done for Rents, Debt Collectors, Evictions. Cardpunch tabulators would predate Computers ( which really weren't available in the early years of Construction ).
Rapture could eventually have 'Credit Cards' past the computer-era start ( 1955 ) and even autopayment from Bank Accounts.
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