Waterpower

a term applied to force derived from a waterfall. The clattering waterwheel driven by a swift current or by a weight of water falling heavily through a flume is an ancient invention. The water rights of the miller who first controls the water of a fall and uses it to turn his mill have been protected by common law and by statute. To draw off in another direction the water that flows to the miller's wheel is as much an act of theft as to take a horse from his stable or a sack of meal from his bin, and, indeed, it is a far more serious affair.

It is frequently possible to increase the height of the fall or to convert mere rapids into a waterfall by throwing a dam across the stream. If this be done while the country is in a primitive condition, the entire millpond becomes the property of the miller, but if the owner of a mill desires to form or enlarge a pond after the shore has passed into the possession of others, he must purchase their consent.

The more water and the higher the fall, the greater the power furnished. The force of 33,000 pounds of water falling one foot is taken as the unit. It is considered equal to the strength of a horse and is called a horse-power. One tenth as much water descending ten times as far gives the same power. The weight of water is 62 1/2 pounds per cubic foot. If we multiply 62 1/2 pounds by the number of cubic feet that pour over a fall per minute, we shall have the weight of the water. Multiplying this weight by the height of the fall and dividing the result by 33,000 gives the number of horse-power. There are other considerations such as the angle of striking and loss from friction that need not be stated here. The discussion of waterwheels, overshot, undershot, and turbine; of tailraces, aqueducts, strength of dams, head, water meters, loss of power in transmission, etc., is an interesting subject well taught in colleges of engineering.

Falling water is one of the cheapest sources of power known. By evaporating the water of the sea and causing it to form clouds that supply the sources of the stream with showers and rains, the sun may be said to lift the water day by day and thus drive the mill. Waterpower is more trustworthy than the power of the wind. Wind does not blow always when it is wanted, nor can it be regulated as easily by the miller who turns on and shuts off the water from his millpond.

Millponds are widely distributed. The rougher and better watered the country, the more waterfalls there are. The more thickly a country is inhabited, the more likely the falls and rapids are to be utilized. Many important falls in the unsettled parts of the country are not yet in use. Some of the important waterpowers of the country are:

The two power plants at Niagara, that at the Sault, at Great Falls, at Helena, and a second lower fall at Minneapolis are used to operate wheels that drive dynamos and thus develop electricity. The electricity is conveyed to neighboring cities for lighting, propelling street cars, and furnishing power for manufactures. The new northwest is well supplied with waterpower. Snoqualmie Falls and Shoshone Falls are notable.

The 1900 census estimated the amount of work done in the United States by water-power as equal to that of 1,727,258 horses, being about one-fifth of the power derived from steam. Mr. Arthur W. Page, writing for World's Work February, 1909, estimated that the streams of the United States generate over 5,000,000 horse-power and that they are capable of generating 37,000,000 horse-power.

The latest government reports increase these estimates. They place the total development in the United States at 5,356,680 horse-power, the number of wheels being 52,827. The state of New York possesses the largest waterpower development, the total being 885,862 horse-power, including Niagara. The state ranking second is California, the total being 466,747 horse-power distributed among 1,070 wheels. The third state in rank is Maine, with a total development of 343,095 horse-power, generated by 2,797 wheels, averaging 123 horse-power.

The reports state that the total available power of the surveyed portions of the United States, including storage possibilities, is about 53,000,000 horse-power. About one-fourth the total area of the United States is now surveyed. The available power for the whole United States may reach at least 200,000,000 horse-power and probably more.