CITY UTILITIES
Tip #2 -- Water

Providing Water to your city is very important.  You will need to build facilities to produce the water (pumps, water towers, etc.) and will also need to build a large piping system underground.

Water pumps and towers and such all have a limited life (usually about 50 years).  As they get older they will have less capacity, and eventually they will self-destruct, and that can lead to the water system drying up and some Sims not getting water.  You can use the [Query] tool to check each water facility to see if it's getting old and to see what it's current capacity is.

Water pumps and towers will also have lower capacity if they are in a polluted area.  So, it's best not build your water pumps and towers near power plants, seaports, airports, industrial areas, and so on.

Selling water to your neighbors is a great way to make extra money, but you'll need to build a lot of water pumps and such, and watch them as they start getting older and slowing down.  Otherwise, you might not have enough capacity to support both your city and the neighbor deal.

The water piping system is sometimes overlooked by the Future City teams.  Water stretches only 6 or 7 tiles away from the pipes you build, so you will need to build a substantial network (or grid) of pipes of some areas of your city won't be watered.  If you don't have enough water sources, the pipes at the farthest end might be dry.

Use the [Adjust & Review] button, then [View Data], and look at the [Water Supply Data Map] to find any areas that don't have power.  

Also use the [Meet] [Utilities Advisor] to see if he has any recommendations.  Check with him often as he will let you know if the utilities are adequate or if any are getting old.

TIP -- Making sure your city is fully watered is worth up to 5 points on the Judges Scoring (item Energy #2).