WATER POWER 



6219 



WATER POWER 





Some power is lost by friction of the water on 

 the conduit and some by failure of the wheel 

 to utilize all the power exerted by the water. 

 Because of mechanical difficulties no water 

 wheel has ever been constructed that can use 

 all the power applied to it. The best wheels 

 use from seventy to eighty per cent, and occa- 

 sionally as high as ninety per cent, but the or- 

 dinary wheels use but little more than half of 

 the indicated power. . 



The horse power a force that will raise 33,- 

 000 pounds one foot in one minute, or 550 

 pounds one foot in one second is the unit em- 

 ployed in measuring water power. To estimate 

 the horse power of a waterfall or rapid, multiply 

 the flow in cubic feet per second by the height 

 of the fall in feet, and this product by .1134. 

 According to this rule a fall fifty feet high and 

 having a flow of 500 cubic feet per second 

 would develop 50X500 X.I 134, or 2335, horse 

 power. 



Classification of Water Powers. Water pow- 

 ers are classified according to the height of the 

 fall, which is called the head. Those having a 

 fall not exceeding 100 feet are known as low- 

 head; those whose fall is between 100 and 350 

 feet are called medium-head, and those having 

 a head of over 350 feet are high-head powers. 

 Some high-head powers have a fall of over 

 5,000 feet. Since the power depends upon both 

 head and the flow, low-power plants re- 

 quire a large volume of water. 



Development of Water Power. Streams are 

 the most available sources of water power, and 

 most of the great water-power plants are those 

 of the low-head class. The head is usually in- 

 creased by the construction of a dam across 

 the stream, and the conduits leading to the 

 wheels carry large volumes of water. The larg- 

 est and most modern plant of this type in i In- 

 United States is that at Keokuk, Iowa (which 

 sec). The great plant at Niagara is of the 

 uin-head class. Here the power was ob- 

 tained by sinking the wheel pits to the level of 

 river below the fall and conveying the 

 water to the wheels through penstocks. 



Plants of the high-power class are found in 

 mountainous regioi <lams for impound- 



inji il;- u it< r of .small streams are constructed 

 at levels from several hundred feet to thou- 

 sands of feet above the location of the wheels, 

 to which tin water is conducted by iron pipes. 

 Power plants of this type have a high head 

 and a small volume of water. The height of 

 th* head compensates for the volume of water, 

 but such plants require a special type of water 



wheel. They are extensively employed in the 

 production of electric power, which is often 

 conveyed long distances by wire before it is 

 used. 



The rapid increase in the use of electricity 

 has led to the reconstruction of many old 

 water-power plants, as well as to the develop- 

 ment of new ones in localities that formerly 

 were not available, because of their distance 

 from centers of manufacture. Moreover, the 

 extensive application of electricity to the opera- 

 tion of public utilities, especially to the light- 

 ing of cities and the operation of street cars 

 and interurban railways, has been the means of 

 consolidating many large power plants under 

 the control of great corporations. Many valu- 

 able water-power plants in the United States 

 are on lands belonging to the national govern- 

 ment and are under the control of the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior and the Department of 

 Agriculture, respectively. While some of these 

 sites have been leased, it is the policy of the 

 government to prevent their falling into the 

 hands of monopolistic corporations. The w;. 

 power sites of Canada are under the control of 

 the Dominion government. 



Water Power of the World. Only a part of 

 the water power of the world has been esti- 

 mated, and but a small portion of that known 

 has been developed. Tremendous possibilities 

 lie open to future generations. 



United States. The water power of the 

 United States is estimated at 30,000,000 horse 

 power. Of this only fourteen per cent, or 

 4,200,000 horse power, has been developed. 

 Could all the water power of the country be 

 made available it would be more than sufficient 

 to operate every f acton-, mill, electric plant 

 and railway in the country.- 



Canada. The Canadian rivers are credited 

 with a water power equivalent to about 18,- 

 000,000 horse power. Only a little over seven 

 per cent of this tyas been developed, showing 

 that there is an abundance for the industrial 

 growth of the Dominion. 



Eurojx . The water power of Europe is esti- 

 mated at 41,000,000 horse power. Notwith- 

 standing the fact that for centuries manu- 

 facturing has constituted an important line of 

 industry in many Kuropean countries, only a 

 little over ten per cent of this power has been 

 developed. 



Other Parts of the World. No estimates of 



r power of Asia, Africa and South 



America have been made, but it seems safe to 



consider that these continents possess water 



