This article is about a type of structure. Braine-le-Château (in Walloon: Brinne-Tchestea; in Dutch: Kasteelbrakel) is a Walloon Municipality located in the . For other locational uses see: Milldam

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour or lumber production, or metal shaping (rolling, grinding or wire drawing). A milldam is a Dam constructed on a Waterway to create a Mill pond. A water wheel is a means of extracting power from the flow (or fall of water otherwise known as Hydropower. A water turbine is a rotary Engine that takes energy from moving water Flour is a powder made of Cereal grains It is the key ingredient of Bread, which is a staple food in many countries and therefore the availability Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or A rolling mill is a Machine or Factory for shaping Metal by passing it between a pair of Work rolls. Wire drawing is a manufacturing process used to reduce or change the diameter of a Wire or rod by pulling the wire or rod through a single or series of drawing die(s A watermill that generates electricity is usually called a hydroelectric plant

Contents 1 History 1.1 Greco-Roman world 1.2 China 1.3 India 1.4 Islamic world 1.5 Medieval Europe 2 Operation of a watermill 3 Types of watermills 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

History

Greco-Roman world

The ancient Greeks and Romans were the first to have used water for powering mills. Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by Hydropower, ie the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling water The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The A1 in London is an A road in North London. It runs from the London Wall to Bignall's Corner, where it crosses the M25 and London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC The British historian of technology M. J. T. Lewis has shown that portions of Philo of Byzantium's mechanical treatise, which describe water wheels, and which have been previously regarded as later Arabic interpolations, actually date back to the Greek 3rd century BC original. Philo of Byzantium ( Greek: Φίλων ο Βυζάντιος ca The 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC ^[1] The Greek author Strabo mentions in his Geography another early watermill, located near the palace of king Mithradates VI Eupator (r. Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. See Mithridates for people and concepts with the same name Mithridates VI (Μιθριδάτης 132&ndash63 BC also known as Mithridates 120-63 BC) at Cabira. For the Comb jelly Genus, see Cabira (ctenophore. Cabira (τὰ Κάβειρα a place in Pontus, at the base In the early 1st century BC, the Greek epigrammatist Antipater of Thessalonica made the first clear reference to the waterwheel which he praised for its use in grinding grain and the reduction of human labour. Antipater of Thessalonica was the author of over a hundred Epigrams in the Greek Anthology. It should be noted that this mill was already of the advanced vertical type featuring gears:^[2]

Hold back your hand from the mill, you grinding girls; even if the cockcrow heralds the dawn, sleep on. For Demeter has imposed the labours of your hands on the nymphs, who leaping down upon the topmost part of the wheel, rotate its axle; with encircling cogs,^[3] it turns the hollow weight of the Nisyrian millstones. Demeter (dɨˈmiːtɚ Greek:, possibly "distribution-mother" from the noun of the Indo-European mother-earth * dheghom * mater In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of mythological entities in human female form Nisyros (Νίσυρος also transliterated Nissiros) is a volcanic Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. If we learn to feast toil-free on the fruits of the earth, we taste again the golden age. The term Golden age is best known from Greek mythology and legend but can also be found in other ancient cultures (see below

Mills were commonly used for grinding grain into flour (attested by Pliny the Elder), but industrial uses as fulling and sawing marble were also applied, evidenced by a quotation from the fourth century AD author Ausonius. Gaius or Caius Plinius Secundus, ( AD 23 – August 25, AD 79 better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient Author Marble is a nonfoliated Metamorphic rock resulting from the Metamorphism of Limestone, composed mostly of Calcite (a crystalline form of This article is about the Roman poet Ausonius For John Ausonius the Swedish murderer see John Ausonius. ^[4]

The Romans used both fixed and floating water wheels and introduced water power to other provinces of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial So-called 'Greek Mills' used water wheels with a horizontal wheel (and vertical shaft). A "Roman Mill" features a vertical wheel (on a horizontal shaft). Greek style mills are the older and simpler of the two designs, but only operate well with high water velocities and with small diameter millstones. Roman style mills are more complicated as they require gears to transmit the power from a shaft with a horizontal axis to one with a vertical axis.

A particularly large and sophisticated Roman era watermill is the 2nd century site at Barbegal in southern France. The Barbegal aqueduct and mill is a Roman Watermill complex located on the territory of the commune of Fontvieille, near the town of Arles, in This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. This complex, which has been described as "the greatest known concentration of mechanical power in the ancient world",^[5] featured 16 overshot waterwheels to power an equal number of flour mills. "Ancient" redirects here For other uses see Ancient_(disambiguation. Flour is a powder made of Cereal grains It is the key ingredient of Bread, which is a staple food in many countries and therefore the availability The capacity of the mills has been estimated at 4. 5 tons of flour per day, sufficient to supply enough bread for the 12,500 inhabitants occupying the town of Arelate at that time. Flour is a powder made of Cereal grains It is the key ingredient of Bread, which is a staple food in many countries and therefore the availability Arles (aʁl̥ Provençal Occitan: Arles in both classical and Mistralian norms is a City in the south of France, ^[6] A similar mill complex existed on the Janiculum hill, whose supply of flour for Rome's population was judged by emperor Aurelian important enough to be included in the Aurelian walls in the late 3rd century. Janiculum ( Gianicolo in Italian) is a hill in western Rome. Although the second-tallest hill (after Monte Mario) in the contemporary city of Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Lucius Domitius Aurelianus ( September 9, 214 or 215 &ndashSeptember or October 275 known in English as Aurelian, Roman Emperor (270&ndash275 The Aurelian Walls (Mura aureliane were City walls built between 271 and 275 in Rome during the reign of the Roman Emperors Aurelian and Much later in 537 AD, ship mills were ingeniously used by the East Roman general Belisarius, when the besieging Goths cut off the water supply for those mills. Flavius Belisarius (Βελισάριος (505(? – 565 was one of the greatest Generals of the Byzantine Empire and one of the most acclaimed generals in history The Ostrogoths (Ostrogothi or Austrogothi were a branch of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe that played a major role in the political events of the late

Although to date only a few dozen Roman mills are archaeologically traced, the widespread use of aqueducts in the period suggests that many remain to be discovered. Recent excavations in Roman London, for example, have uncovered what appears to be a tide mill together with a possible sequence of mills worked by an aqueduct running along the side of the River Fleet. A tide mill is a specialist type of water mill driven by tidal rise and fall The River Fleet is the largest of London 's subterranean rivers It formerly flowed on the surface ^[7]

Water lifting machines were common during the Roman period to dewater deep underground mines. Several such devices are described by Vitruvius, including the reverse overshot water-wheel and the Archimedean screw. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (born c 80–70 BC died after c 15 BC was a Roman Writer, Architect and Engineer (possibly praefectus fabrum Frequently used in mines and probably elsewhere the reverse overshot Water wheel was a Roman innovation to help remove water from the lowest levels of underground workings The Archimedes' screw, Archimedean screw, or screwpump is a Machine historically used for transferring water from a low-lying body of water into Irrigation Many were found during modern mining at the copper mines at Rio Tinto in Spain, one system involving 16 such wheels stacked above one another so as to lift water about 80 feet from the mine sump. Copper (ˈkɒpɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol Cu (cuprum and Atomic number 29 Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Part of such a wheel was found at Dolaucothi, a Roman gold mine in south Wales in the 1930's when the mine was briefly re-opened. The Dolaucothi Gold Mines ( also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are Roman surface and deep mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, "Gold mine" redirects here See Goldmine for other uses of the term It was found about 80 feet below the surface, so must have been part of a similar sequence as that discovered at Rio Tinto. It has recently been carbon dated to about 80 AD, and since the wood from which it was made is much older than the deep mine, it is likely that the deep workings were in operation perhaps 30-50 years after. Radiocarbon dating is a Radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring Radioisotope Carbon-14 (14C to determine the age of It is clear from these examples of drainage wheels found in sealed underground galleries in widely separated locations that building water wheels was well within their capabilities, and such verticals water wheels commonly used for industrial purposes.

China

A different variety of watermill was known in China during the Han dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD), but initially only in order to pound grain (to dehusk it). China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The Han Dynasty ( 206 BC–220 AD followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China.

In the text known as the Xin Lun written by Huan Tan about 20 AD (during the usurpation of Wang Mang), it states that the legendary mythological king known as Fu Xi was the one responsible for the pestle and mortar, or tilt-hammer device (see trip hammer). Huan Tan 桓譚 (c 43 BC &ndash 28 AD) Huan was a close associate of the court astronomer and mathematician Liu Xin (d Wang Mang ( (45 BC&ndashOctober 6 23 Courtesy name Jujun (巨君 was a Han Dynasty official who seized the throne from the Liu family In Chinese mythology Fu Xi or Fu Hsi ( aka Paoxi ( mid 2800s BCE was the first of the mythical Three Sovereigns (三皇 sānhuáng of ancient China A trip hammer (alt helve hammer) is a massive powered Hammer, usually raised by a Cam and then released to fall under the force of gravity. Although the author speaks of the mythological Fu Xi, a passage of his writing suggests that the waterwheel was in widespread use by the 1st century AD in China (Wade-Giles spelling):

Fu Hsi invented the pestle and mortar, which is so useful, and later on it was cleverly improved in such a way that the whole weight of the body could be used for treading on the tilt-hammer (tui), thus increasing the efficiency ten times. Wade-Giles (ˌweɪdˈʤaɪlz) sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization system (phonetic notation and Transcription) for the Mandarin Afterwards the power of animals—donkeys, mules, oxen, and horses—was applied by means of machinery, and water-power too used for pounding, so that the benefit was increased a hundredfold. ^[8]

In 31 AD, a Chinese engineer named Du Shi (Wade-Giles: Tu Shih) "invented the first water-powered bellows. Du Shi ( d 38 was a Chinese governmental Prefect of Nanyang in 31 AD and a mechanical Engineer of the Eastern Han Dynasty in Ancient Wade-Giles (ˌweɪdˈʤaɪlz) sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization system (phonetic notation and Transcription) for the Mandarin This was a complicated machine containing gears, axles, and levers that was powered by a waterwheel," according to Mary and Michael Woods. ^[9] In essence, Du Shi's invention aided the forging of cast iron smelted from the blast furnace. Du Shi's invention was continued by Chinese living in subsequent dynastic periods of China, although the bellows of his device were improved upon in later periods (from leather bellows to wooden-fan bellows). ^[10] Early Chinese mills featured mostly horizontal wheels, but vertical wheels were also employed.

India

The early history of the watermill in India is obscure. According to Terry S. Reynolds the "term cakkavattaka (turning wheel) used in Indian texts is ambiguous and does not clearly indicate a water-powered device. In fact, as Thorkild Schiøler has noted, it is far more likely that these passages refer to some type of tread- or hand-operated water-lifting device, instead of a water-powered water-lifting wheel. "^[11]

Irrigation water for crops was provided by using water raising wheels, some driven by the force of the current in the river from which the water was being raised. This kind of water raising device was used in ancient India. ^[12]

Around 1150, the astronomer Bhaskara Achārya observed water-raising wheels and imagined such a wheel lifting enough water to replenish the stream driving it, effectively, a perpetual motion machine. Bhaskara (1114 &ndash 1185 also known as Bhaskara II and Bhaskara Achārya ("Bhaskara the teacher" was an Indian mathematician The term perpetual motion, taken literally refers to movement that goes on forever ^[13]

The construction of water works and aspects of water technology in India is described in Arabic and Persian works. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language During medieval times, the diffusion of Indian and Persian irrigation technologies gave rise to an advanced irrigation system which bought about economic growth and also helped in the growth of material culture. ^[14]

Islamic world

Muslim engineers adopted the water wheel technology from the hydraulic societies of the Middle East, where it had been applied for hundreds of years prior to the Muslim conquest. As early as the 7th century, excavation of a canal in the Basra region discovered remains of a water wheel dating from this period. Hama in Syria still preserves one of its large wheels, on the river Orontes, although they are no longer in use. Hama (ancient Hamath; Arabic: حماة meaning fortress is a city on the banks of the Orontes river in central Syria north of Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية See Orontid dynasty for the Armenian kings and satraps called Orontes ^[15] The largest had a diameter of about 20 metres and its rim was divided into 120 compartments. Another wheel that is still in operation is found at Murcia in Spain, La Nora, and although the original wheel has been replaced by a steel one, the Moorish system during al-Andalus is otherwise virtually unchanged. Murcia ( is the capital city of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, located at the river Segura in south-eastern Spain. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim (and earlier non-Muslim people of Berber and Arab descent Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or The flywheel mechanism, which is used to smooth out the delivery of power from a driving device to a driven machine, was invented by Ibn Bassal (fl. A flywheel is a mechanical device with significant Moment of inertia used as a storage device for Rotational energy. 1038-1075) of al-Andalus, who pioneered the use of the flywheel in the chain pump (saqiya) and noria. Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or The chain pump is a type of water Pump where an endless chain has positioned on it a series of circular discs A noria (ناعورة nā‘ūra, from ܢܥܘܪܐ nā‘urā) is a machine for lifting water into an Aqueduct using energy derived from the water's ^[16]

The industrial uses of watermills in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, while horizontal-wheeled and vertical-wheeled water mills were both in widespread use by the 9th century. For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" A variety of industrial watermills were used in the Islamic world, including gristmills, hullers, paper mills, sawmills, shipmills, stamp mills, steel mills, sugar mills, and tide mills. A gristmill or grist mill is a building where Grain is ground into Flour, or the grinding mechanism itself A huller (or sometimes called a rice husker) is a kind of Agricultural machinery to hull Rice. A paper mill is a Factory devoted to making Paper from wood pulp and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier Machine or similar apparatus A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards Sawmill process A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of 100 years ago a log enters A stamp mill (or stamp battery) is a type of mill that crushes material by pounding rather than grinding either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores Steel Mill was one of Bruce Springsteen 's early bands and performed regularly on the Jersey Shore, in Virginia, and also in California from 1969 A Sugar Refinery or sugar Mill is a Factory which refines sugar from various organic sources like sugar cane or beets into a A tide mill is a specialist type of water mill driven by tidal rise and fall By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic world had these industrial watermills in operation, from al-Andalus and North Africa to the Middle East and Central Asia. Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south ^[17] Muslim engineers also used crankshafts and water turbines, gears in watermills and water-raising machines, and dams as a source of water, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines. The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an Engine which translates reciprocating Linear A water turbine is a rotary Engine that takes energy from moving water This is the page for mechanical Gears For other uses see Gear (disambiguation For the gear-like device used to drive a roller chain see Sprocket A machine is any device that uses Energy to perform some activity A dam is a barrier that divides waters. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water while other structures such as Floodgates, Levees ^[18] Fulling mills, paper mills and steel mills may have spread from Islamic Spain to Christian Spain in the 12th century. Industrial water mills were also employed in large factory complexes built in al-Andalus between the 11th and 13th centuries. A factory (previously manufactory) or manufacturing plant is an industrial Building where workers manufacture goods Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or ^[19]

Muslim engineers used two solutions to achieve the maximum output from a water mill. The first solution was to mount them to piers of bridges to take advantage of the increased flow. A pier is a raised Walkway over water supported by widely spread Piles or pillars. A bridge is a Structure built to span a Gorge, Valley, Road, railroad track, River, Body of water The second solution was the shipmill, a type of water mill powered by water wheels mounted on the sides of ships moored in midstream. This article is about a type of structure For other locational uses see Milldam. A water wheel is a means of extracting power from the flow (or fall of water otherwise known as Hydropower. A ship /ʃɪp/ is a large vessel that floats on water Ships are generally distinguished from Boats based on size vessel is said to be moored when it is fastened to a fixed object such as a Pier, Quay or the seabed or to a floating object such as an anchor buoy The Petroleum industry is usually divided into three major components upstream, midstream and downstream. This technique was employed along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in 10th century Iraq, where large shipmills made of teak and iron could produce 10 tons of flour from corn every day for the granary in Baghdad. The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great Rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of southeastern The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Teak ( Tectona) is a genus of tropical Hardwood Trees in the family Verbenaceae, native to the south and southeast of Asia Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 Units of mass There are three similar units of Mass called the ton: Long ton (simply ton in countries such as the United A gristmill or grist mill is a building where Grain is ground into Flour, or the grinding mechanism itself A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or Animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries Pottery is the most Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous ^[20]

In the 13th century, Muslim engineers al-Jazari and Taqi al-Din depicted many water-raising machines in their technological treatise. Abū al-'Iz Ibn Ismā'īl ibn al-Razāz al-Jazarī ( 1136 - 1206) (أَبُو اَلْعِزِ بْنُ إسْماعِيلِ بْنُ الرِّزاز الجزري Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf al-Shami al-Asadi ( Arabic: تقي الدين محمد بن معروف الشامي السعدي Turkish: Takiyuddin) (1526&ndash1585

Medieval Europe

In a 2005 survey the scholar Adam Lucas identified the following first appearances of various industrial mill types in Western Europe. The River Ingol is a small river in the west of the English county of Norfolk. Noticeable is the preeminent role of France in the introduction of new innovative uses of waterpower. However, he has drawn attention to the dearth of studies of the subject in several other countries.

First Appearance of Various Industrial Mills in Medieval Europe, AD 770-1443 [21]
Type of mill	Date	Country
Malt mill	770	France
Fulling mill	1080	France
Tanning mill	ca. 1134	France
Forge mill	ca. 1200	England, France
Tool-sharpening mill	1203	France
Hemp mill	1209	France
Bellows	1269, 1283	Slovakia, France
Sawmill	ca. A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards Sawmill process A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of 100 years ago a log enters 1300	France
Ore-crushing mill	1317	Germany
Blast furnace	1384	France
Cutting and slitting mill	1443	France

An early tide mill was recently excavated at the Nendrum Monastic Site in Northern Ireland. A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical Furnace used for Smelting to produce metals generally Iron. The slitting mill was a Watermill for slitting bars of Iron into rods A tide mill is a specialist type of water mill driven by tidal rise and fall Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of The complex is dated by dendrochronology to 787 AD. Dendrochronology (from Greek grc δένδρον dendron, "tree" grc χρόνος khronos, "time" and grc -λογία ^[22]

Operation of a watermill

Typically, water is diverted from a river or impoundment or mill pond to a turbine or water wheel, along a channel or pipe (variously known as a flume, head race, mill race, leat, leet,^[23] lade (Scots) or penstock). Black Creek Pioneer Village is an historic site in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, just west of York University and southeast of the Jane Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario "Riverine" redirects here For the use of that term in Maritime geography, see there A dam is a barrier that divides waters. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water while other structures such as Floodgates, Levees A flume is an open artificial water channel in the form of a gravity chute, that leads Water from a Diversion dam or Weir completely aside A mill race or raceway is the current or channel of a stream esp A leat (also lete or leet) is the name common in the south and west of England, for an artificial Watercourse, or Aqueduct, supplying A penstock is a Sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to Hydraulic turbines and The force of the water's movement drives the blades of a wheel or turbine, which in turn rotates an axle that drives the mill's other machinery. Water leaving the wheel or turbine is drained through a tail race, but this channel may also be the head race of yet another wheel, turbine or mill. The passage of water is controlled by sluice gates that allow maintenance and some measure of flood control; large mill complexes may have dozens of sluices controlling complicated interconnected races that feed multiple buildings and industrial processes. A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land a deluge

Watermills can be divided into two kinds, one with a horizontal waterwheel on a vertical axle, and the other with a vertical wheel on a horizontal axle. A water wheel is a means of extracting power from the flow (or fall of water otherwise known as Hydropower. The oldest of these were horizontal mills in which the force of the water, striking a simple paddle wheel set horizontally in line with the flow turned a runner stone balanced on the rynd which is atop a shaft leading directly up from the wheel. A runner stone is the upper-most of a pair of working Millstones The runner stone spins above the stationary bedstone creating the "scissoring" or grinding action of A Rynd (also Rind or Millrynd) is a cross-shaped iron support for the Runner stone in a pair of Millstones The rynd is affixed to the top of the main shaft The bedstone does not turn. Bedstone is a small Village and parish (population 85 in South Shropshire, England, close to the borders of Herefordshire The problem with this type of mill arose from the lack of gearing; the speed of the water directly set the maximum speed of the runner stone which, in turn, set the rate of milling.

Most watermills in Britain and the United States of America had a vertical waterwheel, one of three kinds: undershot, overshot and breast-shot. This produced rotary motion around a horizontal axis, which could be used (with cams) to lift hammers in a forge, fulling stocks in a fulling mill and so on. Iron tapped from the Blast furnace is Pig iron, and contains significant amounts of Carbon and Silicon. However, in corn mills rotation about a vertical axis was required to drive its stones. The horizontal rotation was converted into the vertical rotation by means of gearing, which also enabled the runner stones to turn faster than the waterwheel. The usual arrangement in British and American corn mills has been for the waterwheel to turn a horizontal shaft on which is also mounted a large pit wheel. A gristmill or grist mill is a building where Grain is ground into Flour, or the grinding mechanism itself This meshes with the wallower, mounted on a vertical shaft, which turns the (larger) great spur wheel (mounted on the same shaft). This large face wheel, set with pegs, in turn, turned a smaller wheel (such as a lantern gear) known as a stone nut, which was attached to the shaft that drove the runner stone. In Machinery, a face wheel, lap, or crown wheel ( transmission wheel) is a Wheel whose disk face is adapted for Grinding The number of runner stones that could be turned depended directly upon the supply of water available. In many mills the great spur wheel turned only one stone, but there might be several mills under one roof. As waterwheel technology improved mills became more efficient, and by the 19th century, it was common for the great spur wheel to drive several stone nuts, so that a single water wheel could drive as many as four stones. ^[24] Each step in the process increased the gear ratio which increased the maximum speed of the runner stone. Adjusting the sluice gate and thus the flow of the water past the main wheel allowed the miller to compensate for seasonal variations in the water supply. A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate Finer speed adjustment was made during the milling process by tentering, that is, adjusting the gap between the stones according to the water flow, the type of grain being milled, and the grade of flour required.

The overshot wheel was a later innovation in waterwheels and was around two and a half times more efficient than the undershot. Dalgarven Mill is near Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland and home to the Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume ^[25] The undershot wheel, in which the main water wheel is simply set into the flow of the mill race, suffers from an inherent inefficiency stemming from the fact that the wheel itself, entering the water behind the main thrust of the flow driving the wheel, followed by the lift of the wheel out of the water ahead of the main thrust, actually impedes its own operation. The overshot wheel solves this problem by bringing the water flow to the top of the wheel. The water fills buckets built into the wheel, rather than the simple paddle wheel design of undershot wheels. As the buckets fill, the weight of the water starts to turn the wheel. The water spills out of the bucket on the down side into a spillway leading back to river. Since the wheel itself is set above the spillway, the water never impedes the speed of the wheel. The impulse of the water on the wheel is also harnessed in addition to the weight of the water once in the buckets. Overshot wheels require the construction of a dam on the river above the mill and a more elaborate millpond, sluice gate, mill race and spillway or tailrace. ^[26]

Toward the end of the 19th century, the invention of the Pelton wheel encouraged some mill owners to replace over- and undershot wheels with penstocks and Pelton wheel turbines. Dalgarven Mill is near Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland and home to the Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume The Pelton wheel is among the most efficient types of Water turbines. A penstock is a Sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to Hydraulic turbines and A turbine is a rotary Engine that extracts Energy from a Fluid flow

By the early 20th century, availability of cheap electrical energy made the water mill obsolete although some smaller rural mills continued to operate commercially into the 1960s. A few historic mills (for example, at the Wayside Inn (USA)) still operate for demonstration purposes to this day, or even maintain small-scale commercial production as at Little Salkeld (UK). The Wayside Inn is an historic landmark Inn located in Sudbury Massachusetts in the USA. Little Salkeld is a small village within the Eden district of Cumbria, England, a few miles to the north east of Penrith and within the

A different type of water mill is the tide mill. A tide mill is a specialist type of water mill driven by tidal rise and fall This mill might be of any kind, undershot, overshot or horizontal but it does not employ a river for its power source. Instead a mole or causeway is built across the mouth of a small bay. At low tide, gates in the mole are opened allowing the bay to fill with the incoming tide. At high tide the gates are closed, trapping the water inside. At a certain point a sluice gate in the mole can be opened allowing the draining water to drive a mill wheel or wheels. This is particularly effective in places where the tidal differential is very great, such as the Bay of Fundy in Canada where the tides can rise fifty feet, or the now derelict village of Tide Mills in the UK. Tides Folklore in the Mi'kmaq First Nation claims that the tides in the Bay of Fundy are caused by a giant whale splashing in the water Tide Mills is a derelict village in East Sussex, England. It lies about 2 km southeast of Newhaven and 4 km northwest of Seaford and is A working example can be seen at Eling Tide Mill. Eling Tide Mill is situated on an artificial Causeway in Eling in Hampshire, England.

Other water mills can be set beneath large bridges where the flow of water between the stanchions is faster. At one point London bridge had so many water wheels beneath it that bargemen complained that passage through the bridge was impaired.

A final, rather elegant, water wheel innovation places the wheel in a boat anchored in midstream. The flow of the river past the boat turns the wheel and drives the millstone.

"Run of the river" schemes do not divert water at all and usually involve undershot wheels, and some types of water wheel (usually overshot steel wheels) mount a toothed annular ring near the outer edge that drives machinery from a spur gear rather than taking power from the central axle. A water wheel is a means of extracting power from the flow (or fall of water otherwise known as Hydropower. A water wheel is a means of extracting power from the flow (or fall of water otherwise known as Hydropower. Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 A starter ring gear, sometimes called a starter ring or ring Gear, is a medium carbon Steel ring with teeth that is fitted on the periphery of a flexplate or This is the page for mechanical Gears For other uses see Gear (disambiguation For the gear-like device used to drive a roller chain see Sprocket An axle is a central shaft for a rotating Wheel or Gear. In some cases the axle may be fixed in position with a bearing or Bushing However, the basic mode of operation remains the same; gravity drives machinery through the motion of flowing water. Gravitation is a natural Phenomenon by which objects with Mass attract one another A machine is any device that uses Energy to perform some activity Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life.

Types of watermills

• Gristmills, or corn mills, grind grains into flour. A gristmill or grist mill is a building where Grain is ground into Flour, or the grinding mechanism itself Flour is a powder made of Cereal grains It is the key ingredient of Bread, which is a staple food in many countries and therefore the availability These were undoubtedly the most common kind of mill.
• Fulling or walk mills were used for a finishing process on cloth.
• Sawmills cut timber into lumber. A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards Sawmill process A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of 100 years ago a log enters Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or
• Bark Mills stripped bark from trees or ground it to powder for use in tanneries. Bark, also known as periderm is the outermost layer of stems and Roots of Woody plants such as Trees It overlays the Wood and consists A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or Tanning is the process of converting Putrescible skin into non-putrescible Leather, usually with Tannin, an Acidic Chemical compound
• Spoke mills turned lumber into spokes for carriage wheels. Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people usually horse-drawn
• Cotton mills were usually powered by a water wheel at the beginning of the industrial revolution. A cotton mill is a Factory housing spinning and Weaving Machinery Cotton was a leading sector in the Industrial Revolution, as cotton The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the
• Bobbin Mills made wooden bobbins for the cotton and other textile industries. Cotton is a soft staple Fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant ( Gossypium sp
• Carpet mills for making rugs were sometimes water-powered.
• Textile mills for weaving cloth were sometimes water-powered. A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn.
• Powder mills for making gunpowder - black powder or smokeless powder were usually water-powered. The term powder mill is usually used for a mill that manufactures Blackpowder, a type of Gunpowder. Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of Propellants used in Firearms and Artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired unlike the older
• Blast Furnaces, finery forges, and tinplate works were until the introduction of the steam engine invariably water powered. A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical Furnace used for Smelting to produce metals generally Iron. Iron tapped from the Blast furnace is Pig iron, and contains significant amounts of Carbon and Silicon. Tinplate is sheet steel covered with a thin layer of Tin. Before the advent of cheap mild steel the backing metal was iron. Furnaces and Forges were sometimes called iron mills.
• Blade mills were used for sharpening newly made blades. A blade mill was a variety of Water mill used for sharpening newly fabricated Blades including Scythes Swords Sickles and knives
• Slitting mills were used for slitting bars of iron into rods, which were then made into nails. The slitting mill was a Watermill for slitting bars of Iron into rods In Engineering, Woodworking and Construction, a nail is a pin -shaped sharp object of hard Metal, typically Steel,
• Rolling mills shaped metal by passing it between rollers. A rolling mill is a Machine or Factory for shaping Metal by passing it between a pair of Work rolls.
• Lead was usually smelted in smeltmills prior to the introduction of the cupola (a reverberatory furnace). Smeltmills were water-powered mills used to smelt Lead or other metals A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process Furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the Fuel, but not from contact
• Paper mills used water not only for motive power, but also required it in large quantities in the manufacturing process. A paper mill is a Factory devoted to making Paper from wood pulp and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier Machine or similar apparatus

See also

• Hydropower
• Micro hydro
• Millstone
• Mill machinery
• Molinology
• The International Molinological Society
• Renewable Energy
• Roman engineering
• Sustainable living
• Sutter's Mill
• Watermills in the United Kingdom
• Water wheel
• Horse mill
• Claverton Pumping Station – a waterwheel-powered pumping station
• Scottish Rural Life, History Dictionary - a Dictionary which includes many milling terms. Hydropower, hydraulic power or water power is power that is derived from the Force or Energy of moving water which may Micro Hydro is a term used for Hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up to 100 kW of power Millstones or mill stones are used in Windmills and Watermills including Tide mills for grinding Wheat or other grains This article covers the various different major pieces of mill machinery to be found in Windmills, Watermills and Horse mills It does not cover Molinology (from Latin: molīna mill and Greek λόγος study is the study of mills or other mechanical devices which use the Kinetic energy of moving The International Molinological Society (TIMS has been active since 1965 and is the only organization dedicated to mills and Molinology on a worldwide scale Renewable energy is Energy generated from Natural resources mdashsuch as Sunlight, Wind, Rain, tides and geothermal Origins The Romans are generally famous for their advanced Engineering accomplishments although some of their own inventions were improvements on older ideas concepts Sustainable living refers to a specific Lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the Earth's natural resources Sutter's Mill was a Sawmill owned by 19th century pioneer John Sutter. The use of water power in Britain was at its peak just before the Industrial Revolution. A water wheel is a means of extracting power from the flow (or fall of water otherwise known as Hydropower. A horse-mill is a mill that uses a Horse as the power source Any milling process can be powered in this way but the most frequent use of animal power in horse-mills was for Claverton Pumping Station is a Pumping station, located in the village of Claverton in the English county of Somerset, which pumps water from (right)

Notes

References

• Gauldie, Enid (1981). The Scottish Miller 1700 - 1900. Pub. John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-067-7.
• Lewis, M. J. , Millstone and Hammer: the origins of water power, University of Hull Press 1997. ISBN 085958657X.
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 2. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
• Pacey, Arnold, Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-year History, The MIT Press; Reprint edition (July 1, 1991). ISBN 0262660725.
• Reynolds, Terry S. Stronger Than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel. (Johns Hopkins University Press 1983). ISBN 0801872480.
• Woods, Michael and Mary (2000). Ancient Machines: From Wedges to Waterwheels. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books.

External links

• 17 Jun 2003, Deutsche Welle: The World's First Underwater Windmill Starts Turning
• U.S. Mill Pictures and Information
• Tidal power station
• Mill database with over 10000 european mills
• Watermills in Norfolk, England
• Mills in Hampshire, England
• Upwey Mill, Weymouth, Dorset
• The International Molinological Society (TIMS)
• The Society for the Preservation of Old Mills (SPOOM)
• Tidal mill in London]

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