Building your own hydroelectric plant

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  • Mojonasty1

    Plinker
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    Aug 13, 2011
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    hello all new member . not to thread jack this one but i own about 400 yds of frontage on the kankakee river and my buddy and i have talked about figuring a way to make a small hydroelectric system I guess from using the flow of the river. just wondering if it is possible or legal . iI do remember how old mills did it
    just looking for some opinions thanks:dunno:
     

    redneckmedic

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    Jan 20, 2009
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    Greenfield
    I don't the powers at be would like you taking the flow of water carefully governed by them to capitalize for yourself, I bet to cut enough land to change the flow of water it would be a nightmare in permits, then taxes, then EPA regulations, not to mention OSHA, and then the Unions.... some of that is sarcasm.... but sadly most of it isn't, you decide what is what.
     

    Indy_Guy_77

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    I'm not sure if it's legal these days to modify and/or otherwise impede flow in that manner.

    sounds goofy, I know...

    But while the shoreline is "private", the water is wholly public.

    I think it bears some research, though. Would be neat if a person could do this!

    -J-
     

    ATOMonkey

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    Jun 15, 2010
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    Water flow is obviously slower near the bank. So, to get the most out of your hydro, it would need to be in a fast moving part of the river.

    The best way to do this is to probably dig out a section of the bank, build a pier, and mount your turbine/water wheel to the pier.

    In essence, you need to widen the river in order to get your turbine/water wheel into a faster flowing section.

    Like mentioned above, the biggest challenge is likely going to be government.
     

    ATOMonkey

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    Oh, another idea just popped into my head.

    You can put a pipe in the water up stream, run in it ALLLLLLLLLL the way down stream to the furthest part in your property, and use the change in elevation to drive a turbine.
     

    chrstian_indy

    Shooter
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    Jul 20, 2011
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    Oh, another idea just popped into my head.

    You can put a pipe in the water up stream, run in it ALLLLLLLLLL the way down stream to the furthest part in your property, and use the change in elevation to drive a turbine.

    :yesway:

    Also, if elevation is a problem- digging a small ditch would help
     

    shibumiseeker

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    Nov 11, 2009
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    near Bedford on a whole lot of land.
    Oh, another idea just popped into my head.

    You can put a pipe in the water up stream, run in it ALLLLLLLLLL the way down stream to the furthest part in your property, and use the change in elevation to drive a turbine.

    Problem is that base level flow in most navigable waterways in Indiana is usually a very small gradient, on the order of a few feet per mile. We just don't have the topography for the type of head that is really required. To make up for that, a larger flow is needed, and piping enough flow volume to make generating power practical from an economic standpoint is prohibitive cost wise. A 2" line at say 10' of head over a thousand feet will lose so much in resistance in the piping that you'll be lucky to get 20gpm flow with a head equivalence of a couple of feet. That's just a very few watts of power generated and at a retail rate of $.10/kWh the payback time for the equipment is never.

    So go with bigger pipe and now price out 8-12" pipe for the distance needed and the cost has risen dramatically.

    It's not that you CAN'T generate power with it, it's just how much you are willing to pay for the power generated. This is why high head situations are preferred as it is much cheaper to put the infrastructure in place. Low head systems only become cost effective when they are scaled up beyond the capability of the average person.
     
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