When your TV set works by water

Press, 11 June 1977, Page 13

When your TV set works by water

Exasperated by constantly-rising electricity bills? The answer could be to turn back the clock 500 years. One group of experts believes that bringing back the water-wheel for domestic use is an exciting dream which could materialise within the next decade . ■ . resulting in dramatic cuts in household bills, writes RUPERT BUTLER

Is there a stream trickling at the bottom of your garden, a river across the next field, or even a hidden culvert under the concrete of your backyard? If so, you could have a solution to those evermounting fuel and electricity bills. For, in their search for low-price power, scientists are putting back the clock 500 years and bringing back the waterwheel.

The small domestic waterwheel, using either a private or communual water source, and providing enough pow'er to run everything in the house — including the washing machine and the television — is an exciting dream which could well come true within the next decade, according to environmental experts. At the National Centre for Alternative Technology at Powys, in Wales, I was told: “All our lighting and heating is already supplied from a water-wheel which, in its essentials, would be perfectly recognisable to our medieval ancestors.

“What happens is that water is piped from a reservoir, squirted through nozzles into-a 2ft diameter w'heel which spins. “The moving wheel then activates a simple generator which we purchased second-hand. We have harnessed the water’s potential energy.” Now engineers are busy with designs for a simple water-wheel which can produce power from small sources and be practical for people living in isolated communities.

Trail-blazing the return to the watermill is a Kendal firm at present supplying installations to remote areas of Northern Canada, Iceland, India, and Africa.

A senior engineer said: “Proprietors of watermills have had a bad reputation in the past — and deservedly. Badly sited and

operated mills can obstruct navigation, and sudden opening of sluices can break down banks and damage crops. “But watermills tailored to individual requirements could be the answer in isolated parts of a country where amenities would be spoilt by the laying of power cables and installation works.

“The package we provide can, in essentials, be as small as three feet cubed. Parts are cased in cast iron or fabricated mild steel for mounting on concrete.

“We can supply a compact generator and control panel to just about any standard voltage.

“All installations are fitted with special governors which control the amount and speed of water according to power demand.” Bodies such as the National Centre for Alternative Technology believe that houses built in the

1980 s and during the next century will be sold with water-wheels and generators as part of an all-in price. “The initial outlay is expensive — at the moment. But well-designed waterwheels are robust, can last a lifetime, and make use of an existing source of power, which is, maybe, a stream or river at present simply flowing wastefully,” I was told.

The Kendal firm, Gilbert Gilkes and Gordon, Ltd, is at present coping with a full order book from mountainous countries such as Kenya, Burundi and Ethiopia. “But,” I was told, “authorities in parts .of Scotland, where remoteness is adding fearsomely to the cost of bringing conventional sources of energy, are looking very seriously at the waterwheel.”

The simplest installation of a water-wheel and generator set at present costs £6OOO, but experts believe that sheer competition and eventual massproduction will soon bring prices down.

There will be minimum disruption to people living in remote areas — the basic equipment for the entire package should be no more bulky than the average domestic washing machine.

Not everyone, though, has the expertise of the staff at Powys, who give a warning that the installation of a generator by anyone with more enthusiasm than knowledge could be dangerous. But the Kendal firm will advise on individual needs.

“Each job is different,” I was told, “and waterwheel requirements vary from site to site. We are confident we can spot the potential of most stretches of water.”

Anyone interested in turning back the clock to the days of the waterwheel should check with the local authority about liability to extra rates — or right to use the water. Some authorities, particularly in European countries, argue that if water is abstracted to make energy, extra charges can be levied.

Others believe that it is just the energy that is being harnessed, and therefore water-wheels should be covered by the normal rates or a small extra charge. But a powerful pressure group among manufacturers in Britain is seeking to draft a new Water Bill, designed for the entirely new energy needs of the 1980 s. An engineer and waterwheel enthusiast. Lord Wilson, of High Wray in Cumbria, has said: “Sooner .or later, we are going to have to look seriously at water turbines — they provide vital energy without robbing us of dwindling power reserves.” Britain’s Department of Enery has not committed itself on the likely future of water-wheels. But it has the National Association of Water Power Users, which represents millers and hydroturbine opeators, to provide evidence on energy-saving by the use of water power. The wheels are turning — how long will it be before there is cine at the bottom of your garden?