IRRIGATION

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 22, 26 January 1924, Page 7

IRRIGATION

THE USE OF WINDMILLS.

(PROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

SYDNEY, 17th January, bomff Vtry encouraging results have been obtained from official tests which have been carried out in Perth, Western Australia, regarding the use of windmills for the irrigation of small areas. Xue tests were carried put by Mr. A. B. Scott, late irrigation expert at the .Department of Agrioulture, and have been spread over fourteen months. The results are described as astonishing, a table, based on the average wind velocities for the past twenty-live years, showing that the water which would be raised over the sis summer months would be (sufficient to cover six acres of land four inches deep once a month, or a total of 3,257,856 Imperial gallons. '•< Up to the present qualified engineors have shown little disposition to specialise in the application, of wind-power to the various purposes for which it is suited, amongst which the pumping of water stands ■ pre-eminent. When Mr. Scott first turned his attention to the matter about four years ago he was faced with a great dearth of information of a practical nature. As a result of careful' study of windmills in different parts of the world he has come to the conclusion that many of the makes qn the market are riot sufficiently strong to perform the heavy continuous work that is necessary when they are to be used for irrigation purposes, although they may be found quite satisfactory for the light duty imposed when they are used for pumping domestic, small garden, and stock supplies. lie considers that the design of the windmill should provide for the utilisation of the full force of the wind to thirty miles per hour, at which: stage _ the automatic governor should come into operation, and throw' the wheel out of^the wind. The mill with which the test mentioned above was carried'out was turned out of the wind when a velocity of fifteen miles per hour was reached. At the present time, he says, to satisfy the demands for a cheap mill, manufacturers have had to sacrifice strength for lightness, and the margin of safety has been reduced to a minimum. The result is that for reasons of safoty such mills cannot be loaded to do the work that they should be capable of, nor is it possible with mills of this type to take advantnge pf useful winds up to 25 and SO miles per hour,