Waterwheels are a rare sight nowadays. Photo / Unsplash, Richard Burlton
Kem Ormond takes a look at the world of farming back in the day. In this week’s Pastures Past, she’s found newspaper articles from 1893, 1940 and 1949 on waterwheels.
Waterwheels are machines that use the energy of moving water to perform work.
Before we had electricity, they were historically important for harnessing natural power.
The most common use was in mills for grinding grain into flour.
They also powered sawmills, textile machines, and other industrial equipment in early factories and in agriculture, water wheels were sometimes used to lift water for irrigation.
In 1949, the Gisborne Herald reported on a turbine waterwheel which fell into German hands during World War II.
It ended up being installed at the Arapuni hydroelectric generating station.
Today, while traditional waterwheels are extremely rare, the principle lives on in hydroelectric turbines, which generate electricity from flowing water.
Below is a selection of historical stories from the Daily Telegraph, NZ Herald and Gisborne Herald from 1893, 1940 and 1949.
Daily Telegraph (Napier) December 2, 1893
The utilizing of the power developed by a rise and fall of the tides is no longer merely a dream.
The next ten years can hardly fail to witness the development into lucrative business ventures of enterprises for turning into account the millions of horse-power developed in our great cataracts.
The Nineteenth century has been the century of steam; the Twentieth is likely to be known as the century of electricity.
Men still living have seen the water wheel make way for the steam engine, and may still live to see the water wheel come back again, only harnessed this time to an electric generator and placed scores of miles away from the mill.
A hundred years hence steam may be regarded merely as an intrusive incident in the evolution of power conversion when the natural order has been re-established and the transformation of water-power into electricity has possibly given place to the transformation of sunlight.
New Zealand Herald, March 6, 1940
Destruction by floods
Built by Sir George Grey
[By telegraph–Press Association]
Wanganui, Tuesday
Reports drifting in from the cut-off back country show that the historic old flour mill at Pipiriki, which was familiar to thousands of tourists, was washed away by the recent floods.
The mill was built by Sir George Grey for the Maoris.
It stood on the bank of the Kaukore stream, near where it joins the Wanganui River below Pipiriki.
It was driven by a waterwheel, and for many years was used for grinding flour.
It was the largest mill on the Wanganui River.
After a crude refining process, the surplus flour, in the old days, was sent to feed the township of Wanganui.
The mill was later used for many years as an electricity generating plant for Pipiriki House.
The plant was later removed, and the mill had been idle for nearly 20 years, remaining as one of the sights of the Wanganui River for tourists.
Gisborne Herald, March 22, 1949
A turbine waterwheel which fell into German hands during the Second World War but was fortunately not dumped in the sea, is now being installed in the No. 6 unit at the Arapuni hydroelectric generating station.
The waterwheel is one of two which were being made in Sweden when war broke out.
The corresponding turbines were made in England and were brought out to New Zealand, but delivery of the waterwheels was blocked.
It was hoped to be able to get them out through the trans-Siberian railway and down the China Coast, but the entry of Japan into the war caused this project to be abandoned when the equipment had been got as far as Petsamo, in Northern Finland.
They were still there when the Germans entered Petsamo, but when the war ended, they were found to be still unharmed.
By the time they reached New Zealand early in 1946, however, the power shortage had resulted in emergency measures being taken, and the No. 6 machine at Arapuni was already in operation with a smaller waterwheel.
This enabled it to produce power at reduced output and efficiency.
The No. 5 machine, which started later the same year, was able to be installed complete, but largely because of the power shortage, the No. 6 unit has had to wait until now for its waterwheel to be changed.
The work has been in progress for about a month, and it is hoped to have it completed by Easter.
The station has been running on fairly light loads recently as part of the State Hydroelectric Department’s policy of conserving water in Lake Taupo.
- Source: Papers Past