“City Gates”
A distribution system, such as a local utility, connects to the interstate pipeline at a "city gate." This facility reduces the pressure of the natural gas from its transmission rate (from 200 to 1,500 pounds per square inch) down to a rate more appropriate to consumer usage (as low as 3 psi). The city gate also adds sour-smelling Mercaptan to the naturally odorless gas to make it easier to quickly sniff out a natural gas leak.
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