Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - [Livingontheland] Water mills (was Re: Running dry)

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Harvey Ussery <boxwood@nelsoncable.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Water mills (was Re: Running dry)
  • Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:53:42 -0400


Solar energy must be built now to provide power for local mills. ~Lynn at Sun Farm, NM

And don't forget water mills. Since commercial hydroelectric plants require big water to operate, we tend to forget what a small amount of water is needed to power a water wheel of appropriate design. When I visited a restored mill near me, I was astounded at how small a stream it was sited on--and that only a very little of its flow was diverted into the race that feeds water into the wheel. (Indeed, the wheel turns even when the inlet door is completely shut, from the "leakage" that trickles in around the door.) Opening the gate to even a medium flow turns the wheel at more than sufficient speed for productive work, given the huge diameter of the wheel and the options of gearing to convert its torque for any work required--grinding, sawing, pounding, etc.

Anybody who thinks this is an archaic technology should visit a restored water mill--it's an incredibly sophisticated system with a lot of potential for a solar-driven (ultimately flowing water is a solar-power phenomenon) alternative to fossil energies.

~Harvey

--
Harvey in northern Va
www.themodernhomestead.us

I truly believe that as long as we have not found peace with the soil, we
won't find peace above the ground. That as long as we justify the
exploitation of any organism, other exploitations will follow and we will
remain parasites, consuming more than participating, and spiralling into
entropy until we commit mass suicide. ~Emilia Hazelip




  • [Livingontheland] Water mills (was Re: Running dry), Harvey Ussery, 09/21/2008

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page