Editing Water wheel (section)

== History ==
{{See also|Watermill|Noria}}

As in all machinery, rotary motion is more efficient in water-raising devices than oscillating motion.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 229">{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|p=229}}</ref> In terms of power source, waterwheels can be turned by either human respectively animal force or by the water current itself. Waterwheels come in two basic designs, either equipped with a vertical or a horizontal axle. The latter type can be subdivided, depending on where the water hits the wheel paddles, into overshot, breastshot and undershot wheels. The two main functions of waterwheels were historically water-lifting for irrigation purposes and milling, particularly of grain. In case of horizontal-axle mills, a system of gears is required for power transmission, which vertical-axle mills do not need.

=== Western world ===
==== Greco-Roman world ====
{{See also|List of ancient watermills}}

The technological breakthrough occurred in the technologically developed [[Hellenistic period]] between the 3rd and 1st century BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Wikander|2000|p=395}}; {{harvnb|Oleson|2000|p=229}}{{blockquote|It is no surprise that all the water-lifting devices that depend on subdivided wheels or cylinders originate in the sophisticated, scientifically advanced Hellenistic period, ...}}</ref> A poem by [[Antipater of Thessalonica]] praised the water wheel for freeing women from the exhausting labor of milling and grinding.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jahren |first1=Per |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7teSDQAAQBAJ |title=How Water Influences Our Lives |last2=Sui |first2=Tongbo |date=2016-11-22 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-981-10-1938-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Antipater of Thessalonica: Epigrams - translation |url=https://www.attalus.org/poetry/antipater2.html |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=www.attalus.org}}</ref>

===== Water-lifting =====
[[File:WaterwheelsSp.jpg|thumb|Sequence of wheels found in [[Riotinto-Nerva_mining_basin#From_Antiquity_to_the_Middle_Ages|Rio Tinto mines]]]]

The compartmented water wheel comes in two basic forms, the wheel with compartmented body ([[Latin]] ''tympanum'') and the wheel with compartmented rim or a rim with separate, attached containers.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 229"/> The wheels could be either turned by men treading on its outside or by animals by means of a [[sakia]] gear. While the tympanum had a large discharge capacity, it could lift the water only to less than the height of its own radius and required a large torque for rotating.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 230">{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|p=230}}</ref> These constructional deficiencies were overcome by the wheel with a compartmented rim which was a less heavy design with a higher lift.<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=231f.}}</ref>

The earliest literary reference to a water-driven, compartmented wheel appears in the technical treatise ''Pneumatica'' (chap. 61) of the Greek engineer [[Philo of Byzantium]] ({{Circa|280|220 BC}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|p=233}}</ref> In his ''Parasceuastica'' (91.43−44), Philo advises the use of such wheels for submerging siege mines as a defensive measure against enemy sapping.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 234">{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=234}}</ref> Compartmented wheels appear to have been the means of choice for draining [[dry dock]]s in [[Alexandria]] under the reign of [[Ptolemy IV]] (221−205 BC).<ref name="Oleson 2000, 234"/> Several Greek [[papyri]] of the 3rd to 2nd century BC mention the use of these wheels, but do not give further details.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 234"/> The non-existence of the device in the [[Ancient Near East]] before [[Wars of Alexander the Great|Alexander's conquest]] can be deduced from its pronounced absence from the otherwise rich oriental iconography on irrigation practices.<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=235}}: {{blockquote|The sudden appearance of literary and archaological evidence for the compartmented wheel in the third century B.C. stand in marked contrast to the complete absence of earlier testimony, suggesting that the device was invented not long before.}}</ref>{{failed verification|reason=could not find mention of Alexander or conquests|date=January 2022}}<ref>An isolated passage in the Hebrew [[Deuteronomy]] (11.10−11) about Egypt as a country ''where you sowed your seed and watered it with your feet'' is interpreted as an metaphor referring to the digging of irrigation channels rather than treading a waterwheel ({{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=234}}).</ref><ref>As for a Mesopotamian connection: {{harvnb|Schioler|1973|p=165−167}}: {{blockquote|References to water-wheels in ancient [[Mesopotamia]], found in handbooks and popular accounts, are for the most part based on the false assumption that the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] equivalent of the logogram GIS.APIN was ''nartabu'' and denotes an instrument for watering ("instrument for making moist").}}{{blockquote|As a result of his investigations, Laessoe writes as follows on the question of the saqiya: "I consider it unlikely that any reference to the saqiya will appear in ancient Mesopotamian sources." In his opinion, we should turn our attention to Alexandria, "where it seems plausible to assume that the saqiya was invented."}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Water architecture in the lands of Syria: the water-wheels|author=Adriana de Miranda|publisher=L'Erma di Bretschneider|year=2007|isbn=978-8882654337|pages=48f}} concludes that the Akkadian passages "are counched in terms too general too allow any conclusion as to the excat structure" of the irrigation apparatus, and states that "the latest official [[Chicago Assyrian Dictionary]] reports meanings not related to types of irrigation system".</ref> Unlike other water-lifting devices and pumps of the period though, the invention of the compartmented wheel cannot be traced to any particular Hellenistic engineer and may have been made in the late 4th century BC in a rural context away from the metropolis of Alexandria.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 235">{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=235}}</ref>

[[File:Archscrew2.jpg|thumb|left|Drainage wheel from Rio Tinto mines]]

The earliest depiction of a compartmented wheel is from a tomb painting in [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] which dates to the 2nd century BC. It shows a pair of yoked oxen driving the wheel via a [[sakia]] gear, which is here for the first time attested, too.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 234, 270">{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=234, 270}}</ref> The Greek sakia gear system is already shown fully developed to the point that "modern Egyptian devices are virtually identical".<ref name="Oleson 2000, 234, 270"/> It is assumed that the scientists of the [[Musaeum at Alexandria|Museum of Alexandria]], at the time the most active Greek research center, may have been involved in its invention.<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=271f.}}</ref> An episode from the [[Alexandrian War]] in 48 BC tells of how Caesar's enemies employed geared waterwheels to pour sea water from elevated places on the position of the trapped Romans.<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|p=271}}</ref>

Around 300 AD, the [[noria]] was finally introduced when the wooden compartments were replaced with inexpensive ceramic pots that were tied to the outside of an open-framed wheel.<ref name="Oleson 2000, 235"/>

===== Watermilling =====
[[File:Roda de Vitruvi.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Vitruvius]]' undershot-wheeled watermill (reconstruction)]]

Taking indirect evidence into account from the work of the Greek technician [[Apollonius of Perge]], the British historian of technology M.J.T. Lewis dates the appearance of the vertical-axle watermill to the early 3rd century BC, and the horizontal-axle watermill to around 240 BC, with [[Byzantium]] and [[Alexandria]] as the assigned places of invention.<ref>{{harvnb|Wikander|2000|p=396f.}}; {{harvnb|Donners|Waelkens|Deckers|2002|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Wilson|2002|pp=7f.}}</ref> A watermill is reported by the Greek geographer [[Strabon]] ({{Circa|64 BC|AD 24}}) to have existed sometime before 71 BC in the palace of the [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontian]] king [[Mithradates VI Eupator]], but its exact construction cannot be gleaned from the text (XII, 3, 30 C 556).<ref>{{harvnb|Wikander|1985|p=160}}; {{harvnb|Wikander|2000|p=396}}</ref>

The first clear description of a geared watermill offers the late 1st century BC Roman architect Vitruvius who tells of the sakia gearing system as being applied to a watermill.<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=234, 269}}</ref> Vitruvius's account is particularly valuable in that it shows how the watermill came about, namely by the combination of the separate Greek inventions of the toothed gear and the waterwheel into one effective mechanical system for harnessing water power.<ref>{{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=269−271}}</ref> Vitruvius' waterwheel is described as being immersed with its lower end in the watercourse so that its paddles could be driven by the velocity of the running water (X, 5.2).<ref>{{harvnb|Wikander|2000|p=373f.}}; {{harvnb|Donners|Waelkens|Deckers|2002|p=12}}</ref>

[[File:Römische Sägemühle.svg|thumb|200px|Scheme of the Roman [[Hierapolis sawmill]], [[Asia Minor]], powered by a breastshot wheel]]

About the same time, the overshot wheel appears for the first time in a poem by [[Antipater of Thessalonica]], which praises it as a labour-saving device (IX, 418.4–6).<ref>{{harvnb|Wikander|2000|p=375}}; {{harvnb|Donners|Waelkens|Deckers|2002|p=13}}</ref> The motif is also taken up by [[Lucretius]] (ca. 99–55 BC) who likens the rotation of the waterwheel to the motion of the stars on the firmament (V 516).<ref>{{harvnb|Donners|Waelkens|Deckers|2002|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Oleson|2000|p=236}}</ref> The third horizontal-axled type, the breastshot waterwheel, comes into archaeological evidence by the late 2nd century AD context in [[Les Martres-de-Veyre|central Gaul]].<ref>{{harvnb|Wikander|2000|p=375}}</ref> Most excavated Roman watermills were equipped with one of these wheels which, although more complex to construct, were much more efficient than the vertical-axle waterwheel.<ref>{{harvnb|Donners|Waelkens|Deckers|2002|pp=12f.}}</ref> In the 2nd century AD [[Barbegal aqueduct and mill|Barbegal watermill complex]] a series of sixteen overshot wheels was fed by an artificial aqueduct, a proto-industrial grain factory which has been referred to as "the greatest known concentration of mechanical power in the ancient world".<ref>{{harvnb|Greene|2000|p=39}}</ref>

In [[Africa Province|Roman North Africa]], several installations from around 300 AD were found where vertical-axle waterwheels fitted with angled blades were installed at the bottom of a water-filled, circular shaft. The water from the mill-race which entered tangentially the pit created a swirling water column that made the fully submerged wheel act like true [[water turbine]]s, the earliest known to date.<ref name="Roman helix-turbine mill">{{harvnb|Wilson|1995|pp=507f.}}; {{harvnb|Wikander|2000|p=377}}; {{harvnb|Donners|Waelkens|Deckers|2002|p=13}}</ref>

===== Navigation =====
[[File:De Rebus Bellicis, XVth Century Miniature.JPG|thumb|right|Ox-powered Roman paddle wheel boat from a 15th-century copy of ''[[De Rebus Bellicis]]'']]

Apart from its use in milling and water-raising, ancient engineers applied the paddled waterwheel for [[automaton]]s and in navigation. Vitruvius (X 9.5–7) describes multi-geared paddle wheels working as a ship [[odometer]], the earliest of its kind. The first mention of paddle wheels as a means of propulsion comes from the  4th–5th century military treatise ''[[De Rebus Bellicis]]'' (chapter XVII), where the anonymous Roman author describes an ox-driven paddle-wheel warship.<ref>De Rebus Bellicis (anon.), chapter XVII, text edited by Robert Ireland, in: ''BAR International Series'' 63, part 2, p. 34</ref>

==== Medieval Europe ====
{{See also|List of early medieval watermills}}

Ancient water-wheel technology continued unabated in the early medieval period where the appearance of new documentary genres such as [[legal code]]s, [[Monastery|monastic]] [[charter]]s, but also [[hagiography]] was accompanied with a sharp increase in references to watermills and wheels.<ref>{{harvnb|Wikander|2000|p=372f.}}; {{harvnb|Wilson|2002|p=3}}</ref>

The earliest vertical-wheel in a [[tide mill]] is from 6th-century Killoteran near [[Waterford]], [[Ireland]],<ref name="Murphy 2005">{{harvnb|Murphy|2005}}</ref> while the first known horizontal-wheel in such a type of mill is from the Irish [[Little Island, Cork|Little Island]] (c. 630).<ref name="Wikander 1985, 155–157">{{harvnb|Wikander|1985|pp=155–157}}</ref> As for the use in a common Norse or Greek mill, the oldest known horizontal-wheels were excavated in the Irish Ballykilleen, dating to c. 636.<!-- Ballykilleen, Co. Offaly --><ref name="Wikander 1985, 155–157"/>

[[File:Waterwheel-Uzhhorod.jpg|thumb|upright|Water wheel powering a small village mill at the [[Museum of Folk Architecture and Life, Uzhhorod]], [[Ukraine]]]]

[[Cistercian]] [[Monastery|monasteries]], in particular, made extensive use of water wheels to power watermills of many kinds.<ref name=Hansen>{{cite web |last1=Hansen |first1=Roger D. |title=Water Wheels |url=http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/waterwheels/waterwheels.pdf |website=waterhistory.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414221333/http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/waterwheels/waterwheels.pdf |archive-date=14 April 2022 |date=2005 |url-status=live}}</ref> An early example of a very large water wheel is the still extant wheel at the early 13th century [[Real Monasterio de Nuestra Senora de Rueda]], a Cistercian monastery in the [[Aragon]] region of [[Spain]]. Grist mills (for grain) were undoubtedly the most common, but there were also sawmills, fulling mills and mills to fulfil many other labour-intensive tasks. The water wheel remained competitive with the [[steam engine]] well into the [[Industrial Revolution]]. At around the 8th to 10th century, a number of irrigation technologies were brought into Spain and thus introduced to Europe. One of those technologies is the Noria, which is basically a wheel fitted with buckets on the peripherals for lifting water. It is similar to the undershot water wheel mentioned later in this article. It allowed peasants to power watermills more efficiently. According to Thomas Glick's book, ''Irrigation and Society in Medieval Valencia'', the Noria probably originated from somewhere in [[Persia]]. It has been used for centuries before the technology was brought into Spain by Arabs who had adopted it from the Romans. Thus the distribution of the Noria in the Iberian peninsula "conforms to the area of stabilized Islamic settlement".<ref>Glick, p. 178</ref>

The assembly convened by [[William of Normandy]], commonly referred to as the "[[Domesday]]" or Doomsday survey, took an inventory of all potentially taxable property in England, which included over six thousand mills spread across three thousand different locations,<ref name="Friedel31">Robert, Friedel, ''A Culture of Improvement''. MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. London, England. (2007). pp. 31–2b.</ref> up from less than a hundred in the previous century.<ref name=Hansen/>

The type of water wheel selected  was dependent upon the location. Generally if only small volumes of water and high waterfalls were available a millwright would choose to use an [[overshot wheel]]. The decision was influenced by the fact that the buckets could catch and use even a small volume of water.<ref name ="Howard">{{Cite journal |last=Howard |first=Robert A. |title=Primer on Water Wheels |journal=[[Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology]] |volume=15 |issue=3 |date=1983 |pages=26–33 |doi=10.2307/1493973 |jstor=1493973}}</ref> For large volumes of water with small waterfalls the undershot wheel would have been used, since it was more adapted to such conditions and cheaper to construct. So long as these water supplies were abundant the question of efficiency remained irrelevant. By the 18th century, with increased demand for power coupled with limited water locales, an emphasis was made on efficiency scheme.<ref name ="Howard"/>

By the 11th century there were parts of Europe where the exploitation of water was commonplace.<ref name="Friedel31"/> The water wheel is understood to have actively shaped and forever changed the outlook of Westerners. Europe began to transit from human and animal muscle labor towards mechanical labor with the advent of the water wheel. Medievalist Lynn White Jr. contended that the spread of inanimate power sources was eloquent testimony to the emergence of the West of a new attitude toward, power, work, nature, and above all else technology.<ref name="Friedel31"/>

Harnessing water-power enabled gains in agricultural productivity, food surpluses and the large scale urbanization starting in the 11th century. The usefulness of water power motivated European experiments with other power sources, such as wind and tidal mills.<ref>Terry S, Reynolds, ''Stronger than a Hundred Men; A History of the Vertical Water Wheel''. Baltimore; Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983. Robert, Friedel, ''A Culture of Improvement''. MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. London, England. (2007). p. 33.</ref> Waterwheels influenced the construction of cities, more specifically canals. The techniques that developed during this early period such as stream jamming and the building of [[canals]], put Europe on a [[hydraulically]] focused path, for instance water supply and irrigation technology was combined to modify supply power of the wheel.<ref>Robert, Friedel, ''A Culture of Improvement''. MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. London, England. (2007). p. 34</ref>

[[File:Gal gromadzenie urobku.jpg|thumb|Ore stamp mill (behind worker taking ore from chute). From [[Georg Agricola]]'s ''[[De re metallica]]'' (1556)]]

The water mill was used for grinding grain, producing flour for bread, malt for beer, or coarse meal for porridge.<ref>Robert, Friedel, A'' Culture of Improvement''. MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. London, England. (2007)</ref>

==== 17th- and 18th-century Europe ====
Millwrights distinguished between the two forces, impulse and weight, at work in water wheels long before 18th-century Europe. Fitzherbert, a 16th-century agricultural writer, wrote "druieth the wheel as well as with the weight of the water as with strengthe [impulse]".<ref>[[Anthony Fitzherbert]], ''Surveying'' (London, 1539, reprinted in [Robert Vansitarrt, ed] ''Certain Ancient Tracts Concerning the Management of Landed Property'' Reprinted [London, 1767.] pg. 92.</ref> [[Leonardo da Vinci]] also discussed water power, noting "the blow [of the water] is not weight, but excites a power of weight, almost equal to its own power".<ref>Leonardo da Vinci, MS F, 44r, in ''Les manuscrits de Leonardo da Vinci'', ed Charles Ravaisson-Moilien (Paris, 1889), vol.4; cf, Codex Madrid, vol. 1, 69r [The Madrid Codices], trans. And transcribed by Ladislao Reti (New York, 1974), vol. 4.</ref> However, even realisation of the two forces, weight and impulse, confusion remained over the advantages and disadvantages of the two, and there was no clear understanding of the superior efficiency of weight.<ref>Smeaton, "An Experimental Inquiry Concerning the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills, and Other Machines, depending on Circular Motion," Royal Society, ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London'' 51 (1759); 124–125</ref> Prior to 1750 it was unsure as to which force was dominant and was widely understood that both forces were operating with equal inspiration amongst one another.<ref name="Torricelli, Evangelista 1919">Torricelli, Evangelista, ''Opere'', ed. Gino Loria and Giuseppe Vassura (Rome, 1919.)</ref> The waterwheel sparked questions of the laws of nature, specifically the [[laws of force]]. [[Evangelista Torricelli]]'s work on water wheels used an analysis of Galileo's work on falling bodies, that the velocity of a water sprouting from an orifice under its [[Hydrostatic head|head]] was exactly equivalent to the velocity a drop of water acquired in falling freely from the same height.<ref name="Torricella, Evangelica 1919">Torricella, Evangelica, ''Opere'', ed. Gino Loria and Giuseppe Vassura (Rome, 1919.)</ref>

==== Industrial Europe ====
[[File:Laxey_Wheel_08676u.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Laxey Wheel|Lady Isabella Wheel]], Laxey, Isle of Man, used to drive mine pumps]]

The water wheel was a driving force behind the earliest stages of industrialization in Britain. Water-powered reciprocating devices were used in trip hammers and blast furnace bellows. [[Richard Arkwright]]'s water frame was powered by a water wheel.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.history.alberta.ca/energyheritage/energy/hydro-power/hydro-power-from-early-modern-to-the-industrial-age.aspx#page-1 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191115022315/http://www.history.alberta.ca/energyheritage/energy/hydro-power/hydro-power-from-early-modern-to-the-industrial-age.aspx#page-1 |archive-date = 2019-11-15|title = Hydro Power from the Early Modern to the Industrial Age: Ca. 1500–1850 - Electricity & Alternative Energy - Alberta's Energy Heritage}}</ref>

==== North America ====
[[File:Portland Basin waterwheel- 5185.JPG|thumb|left|The suspension wheel with rim-gearing at the [[Dukinfield Junction|Portland Basin Canal Warehouse]]]]

Water wheels were used to power sawmills, grist mills and for other purposes during development of the United States.  The {{convert|40|ft|m}} diameter [[Waterwheel (McCoy, Colorado)|water wheel at McCoy, Colorado]], built in 1922, is a surviving one out of many which lifted water for irrigation out of the [[Colorado River]].

Two early improvements were [[Wire wheel|suspension wheels]] and rim gearing. Suspension wheels are constructed in the same manner as a bicycle wheel, the rim being supported under tension from the hub- this led to larger lighter wheels than the former design where the heavy spokes were under compression. Rim-gearing entailed adding a notched wheel to the rim or shroud of the wheel. A stub gear engaged the rim-gear and took the power into the mill using an independent line shaft. This removed the rotative stress from the axle which could thus be lighter, and also allowed more flexibility in the location of the power train. The shaft rotation was geared up from that of the wheel which led to less power loss. An example of this design pioneered by Thomas Hewes and refined by [[William Armstrong Fairburn]] can be seen at the 1849 restored wheel at the [[Dukinfield Junction|Portland Basin Canal Warehouse]].<ref>*{{Cite book
  |first1=Mike |last1=Nevell
  |last2=Walker
  |year=2001
  |title=Portland Basin and the archaeology of the Canal Warehouse
  |publisher=Tameside Metropolitan Borough with [[Manchester University|University of Manchester Archaeological Unit]]
  |isbn=978-1-871324-25-9
  }}
</ref>

==== Australia ====
[[File:Garfield water wheel (State Library of Victoria IE1864826).jpg|thumb|202x202px|[[Garfield water wheel]] (built 1887)]]

Australia has a relatively dry climate, nonetheless, where suitable water resources were available, water wheels were constructed in 19th-century Australia. These were used to power sawmills, flour mills, and [[Stamp mill|stamper batteries]] used to crush gold-bearing ore. Notable examples of water wheels used in gold recovery operations were the large [[Garfield water wheel]] near [[Chewton, Victoria|Chewton]]—one of at least seven water wheels in the surrounding area—and the two water wheels at [[Adelong Falls Gold Workings|Adelong Falls]]; some remnants exist at both sites.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Davies|first1=Peter |last2=Lawrence|first2=Susan |date=2013|title=The Garfield water wheel: hydraulic power on the Victorian goldfields|url=http://www.asha.org.au/pdf/australasian_historical_archaeology/31_04_Davies_and_Lawrence.pdf |journal=Australasian Historical Archaeology|volume=31|pages=25–32}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Garfield Water Wheel|url=https://www.goldfieldsguide.com.au/explore-location/368/garfield-water-wheel/ |access-date=2022-02-06|website=www.goldfieldsguide.com.au}}</ref><ref name="nswshr-72">{{cite NSW SHR|5045640|Adelong Falls Gold Workings/Reserve|hr=00072|fn=S90/07141 & HC 30495|accessdate=1 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pearson|first=Warwick |date=1997|title=Water-Powered Flourmills in Nineteenth-Century Tasmania|url=http://www.asha.org.au/pdf/australasian_historical_archaeology/15_04_Pearson.pdf |journal=Australasian Historical Archaeology|volume=15|pages=66–78}}</ref> The mining area at [[Walhalla, Victoria|Walhalla]] once had at least two water wheels, one of which was rolled to its site from [[Port Albert]], on its rim using a novel trolley arrangement, taking nearly 90 days.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Walhalla's Water Wheels |url=https://www.walhalla.org.au/news/wwheel.htm |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=www.walhalla.org.au}}</ref> A [[Stewart Ryrie, Junior#Flour mill at Jindabyne|water wheel at Jindabyne]], constructed in 1847, was the first machine used to extract energy—for flour milling—from the [[Snowy River]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1918-06-10 |title=THE SOIL. |work=Daily Telegraph |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239256787 |access-date=2022-09-04}}</ref>

Compact water wheels, known as [[Dethridge wheel]]s, were used not as sources of power but to measure water flows to irrigated land.<ref>{{Citation|last=McNicoll|first=Ronald |title=Dethridge, John Stewart (1865–1926)|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dethridge-john-stewart-5966 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|place=Canberra|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|language=en|access-date=2022-02-06}}</ref>

==== New Zealand ====
Water wheels were used extensively in New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Watermills and waterwheels of New Zealand |url=https://www.windmillworld.com/world/newzealand/watermills.htm |access-date=2022-09-11 |website=www.windmillworld.com}}</ref> The well-preserved remains of the Young Australian mine's overshot water wheel exist near the ghost town of [[Cromwell, New Zealand#Carrick Goldfields|Carricktown]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=COMB |date=2014-09-03 |title=Young Australian Water Wheel |url=https://digitalnz.org/records/33825264 |access-date=2022-09-11 |website=DigitalNZ |language=en}}</ref> and those of the Phoenix flour mill's water wheel are near [[Oamaru]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-19 |title=Water wheel of mill nears restoration |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/north-otago/water-wheel-mill-nears-restoration |access-date=2022-09-11 |website=[[Otago Daily Times]] |language=en}}</ref>

=== China ===
[[File:Tiangong Kaiwu Chain Pumps.jpg|thumb|upright|Two types of [[hydraulic]]-powered [[chain pump]]s from the ''[[Tiangong Kaiwu]]'' of 1637, written by the [[Ming Dynasty]] [[encyclopedist]], [[Song Yingxing]] (1587–1666).]]

According to [[Joseph Needham]] and other historians, the text known as the ''Xin Lun'' written by [[Huan Tan]] about 20&nbsp;AD (during the usurpation of [[Wang Mang]]) infers that water wheels had been used for pounding machinery in grain mills.{{sfn|Huang|Zhang|2020|p=298}}{{sfn|Needham|1965|p=392}}<ref name=Hansen/> The ''Xin Lun'' states that the legendary mythological king known as [[Fu Xi]] was the one responsible for the pestle and mortar, which evolved into the tilt-hammer and then trip hammer device (see [[trip hammer]]). Although the author speaks of the mythological Fu Xi, a passage of his writing gives hint that the water wheel was in widespread use by the 1st century&nbsp;AD in [[China]] ([[Wade-Giles]] spelling):

<blockquote>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. 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.{{sfn|Needham|1965|p=392}}</blockquote>

In the year 31&nbsp;AD, the engineer and [[Prefect]] of [[Nanyang (region)|Nanyang]], [[Du Shi]] (d. 38), applied a complex use of the water wheel and machinery to power the [[bellows]] of the [[blast furnace]] to create [[cast iron]]. Du Shi is mentioned briefly in the ''[[Book of Later Han]]'' (''Hou Han Shu'') as follows (in Wade-Giles spelling):

<blockquote>In the seventh year of the Chien-Wu reign period (31&nbsp;AD) Tu Shih was posted to be Prefect of Nanyang. He was a generous man and his policies were peaceful; he destroyed evil-doers and established the dignity (of his office). Good at planning, he loved the common people and wished to save their labor. He invented a water-power reciprocator (''shui phai'') for the casting of (iron) agricultural implements. Those who smelted and cast already had the push-bellows to blow up their charcoal fires, and now they were instructed to use the rushing of the water (''chi shui'') to operate it&nbsp;... Thus the people got great benefit for little labor. They found the 'water(-powered) bellows' convenient and adopted it widely.{{sfn|Needham|1965|p=370}}</blockquote>

According to the ''[[Book of Jin]]'', [[Zhang Heng]] (78-139) invented a water-powered [[armillary sphere]] which could "turn around by water leakage" around 130. Later generations speculated that this meant a water wheel.{{sfn|Huang|Zhang|2020|p=304}}

According to the ''[[Records of the Three Kingdoms]]'', the [[mechanical engineer]] [[Ma Jun (mechanical engineer)|Ma Jun]] (c. 200–265) from [[Cao Wei]] used a water wheel to power and operate a large mechanical puppet theater for [[Emperor Ming of Wei]] ({{abbr|r.|reigned}} 226–239).{{sfn|Needham|1965|p=158}} The device was  carved using large wood, wheel shaped, and operated parallel to the ground to lift water in order to drive an assortment of puppets as well as mills with pestle.{{sfn|Huang|Zhang|2020|p=11}} The Prefect Han Ji was made Superintendent of Metallurgical Production sometime before 238. He "adapted the furnace bellows to the use of ever-flowing water, and an efficiency three times greater than before was attained."{{sfn|Needham|1965|p=370}} Twenty years later, a new design was introduced by a man named Du Yu.{{sfn|Needham|1965|p=370}} A record dated to 263 or later mentions a device known as ''shui dui'' that made use of water wheels: 

{{quote|Beside the river, a shui dui is made, and water wheels are set behind it. A crosspiece is installed to run through the wheels. The two ends of the crosspiece are linked alternately to a long wood of about two chi and directly impact the rear wood of the shui dui. When the water is lifted to impact the wheel, the wheel will rotate, which drives the alternate wood to impact the rear wood of the shui dui to hull grain, using no manpower. The device is thus called shui dui.{{sfn|Huang|Zhang|2020|p=298}}}}

In the beginning of the Yuanjia era (424-429), an artificial lake was created for water powered blowing bellows used in smelting and casting works. However it was discovered that the earthworks of the lake leaked and were insufficient for their intended purpose. They were destroyed and replaced by man-powered "treadmill bellows".{{sfn|Needham|1965|p=371-372}}

=== India ===
The early history of the watermill in [[History of India|India]] is obscure. Ancient Indian texts dating back to the 4th century BC refer to the term ''cakkavattaka'' (turning wheel), which commentaries explain as ''arahatta-ghati-yanta'' (machine with wheel-pots attached). On this basis, [[Joseph Needham]] suggested that the machine was a [[noria]]. Terry S. Reynolds, however, argues that the "term used in Indian texts is ambiguous and does not clearly indicate a water-powered device." Thorkild Schiøler argued that it is "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."<ref>Reynolds, p. 14</ref>

According to Greek historical tradition, India received water-mills from the Roman Empire in the early 4th century AD when a certain Metrodoros introduced "water-mills and baths, unknown among them [the Brahmans] till then".<ref>{{harvnb|Wikander|2000|p=400}}: {{blockquote|This is also the period when water-mills started to spread outside the former Empire. According to [[Cedrenus]] (Historiarum compendium), a certain Metrodoros who went to India in c. A.D. 325 "constructed water-mills and baths, unknown among them [the Brahmans] till then".}}</ref> 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 [[History of India|ancient India]], predating, according to Pacey, its use in the later Roman Empire or China,<ref>Pacey, p. 10</ref> even though the first literary, archaeological and pictorial evidence of the water wheel appeared in the Hellenistic world.<ref name="Oleson 1984, 325ff.">{{harvnb|Oleson|1984|pp=325ff.}}; {{harvnb|Oleson|2000|pp=217–302}}{{page range too broad|date=January 2022}}; {{harvnb|Donners|Waelkens|Deckers|2002|pp=10−15}}{{page range too broad|date=January 2022}}; {{harvnb|Wikander|2000|pp=371−400}}{{page range too broad|date=January 2022}}</ref>

Around 1150, the astronomer [[Bhaskara II|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.<ref>Pacey, p. 36</ref> The construction of water works and aspects of water technology in India is described in [[Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] works. 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.<ref>Siddiqui</ref>

=== Islamic world ===
{{See also|Arab Agricultural Revolution}}
[[File:Hama-3 norias.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The [[Norias of Hama]] on the [[Orontes River]]]]

After the spread of Islam engineers of the Islamic world continued the water technologies of the ancient Near East; as evident in the excavation of a canal in the Basra region with remains of a water wheel dating from the 7th century. [[Hama]] in [[Syria]] still preserves [[Norias of Hama|some of its large wheels]], on the river [[Orontes river|Orontes]], although they are no longer in use.<ref>al-Hassani ''et al.'', p. 115</ref>  One of the largest had a diameter of about {{Convert|20|m||abbr=}} 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 [[Moors|Moorish]] system during [[al-Andalus]] is otherwise virtually unchanged. Some medieval Islamic compartmented water wheels could lift water as high as {{Convert|30|m||abbr=|sigfig=1}}.<ref>{{citation|first=Adam|last=Lucas |year=2006|title=Wind, Water, Work: Ancient and Medieval Milling Technology|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|isbn=978-90-04-14649-5|page=26}}</ref> [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi]]'s ''Kitab al-Hawi'' in the 10th century described a [[noria]] in Iraq that could lift as much as {{Convert|153,000|l/h|impgal/h|abbr=}}, or {{Convert|2550|l/min|impgal/min|abbr=}}. This is comparable to the output of modern norias in [[East Asia]], which can lift up to {{Convert|288000|l/h|impgal/h|abbr=}}, or {{Convert|4800|l/min|impgal/min|abbr=}}.<ref>{{citation|title=A history of engineering in classical and medieval times|author=Donald Routledge Hill|publisher=Routledge |year=1996|isbn=978-0-415-15291-4|pages=145–6}}</ref>

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Kintjir of waterschepwiel in Djambi Sumatra TMnr 10007886.jpg|thumb|upright|Water wheel in [[Djambi]], [[Sumatra]], c. 1918]]

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. A variety of industrial watermills were used in the Islamic world, including [[gristmill]]s, [[huller]]s, [[sawmill]]s, shipmills, [[stamp mill]]s, [[steel mill]]s, [[Sugar refinery|sugar mills]], and [[tide mill]]s. 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]].<ref>Lucas, p. 10</ref> Muslim and Christian engineers also used [[crankshaft]]s and [[water turbine]]s, [[gear]]s in watermills and water-raising [[machine]]s, and  [[dam]]s as a source of water, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines.<ref>Ahmad Y Hassan, [http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2071.htm Transfer Of Islamic Technology To The West, Part II: Transmission Of Islamic Engineering] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425010214/http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles |date=2019-04-25 }}</ref> Fulling 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.<ref>Lucas, p. 11</ref>

The engineers of the Islamic world developed several solutions to achieve the maximum output from a water wheel. One solution was to mount them to [[pier]]s of [[bridge]]s to take advantage of the increased flow. Another solution was the shipmill, a type of [[water mill]] powered by water wheels mounted on the sides of [[ship]]s [[Mooring (watercraft)|moored]] in midstream. 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 [[ton]]s of [[Gristmill|flour from grain]] every day for the [[granary]] in [[Baghdad]].<ref name=Hill2>Hill; see also [http://home.swipnet.se/islam/articles/HistoryofSciences.htm Mechanical Engineering] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001212015400/http://home.swipnet.se/islam/articles/HistoryofSciences.htm |date=2000-12-12 }})</ref> 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 ([[floruit|fl.]] 1038–1075) of [[Al-Andalus]]; he pioneered the use of the flywheel in the [[Sakia|saqiya]] ([[chain pump]]) and noria.<ref>[[Ahmad Y Hassan]], [http://www.history-science-technology.com/Notes/Notes%204.htm Flywheel Effect for a ''Saqiya''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213234545/http://www.history-science-technology.com/Notes/Notes%204.htm |date=2007-12-13 }}.</ref> The engineers [[Al-Jazari]] in the 13th century and [[Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf|Taqi al-Din]] in the 16th century described many inventive water-raising machines in their technological treatises. They also employed water wheels to power a variety of devices, including various [[water clock]]s and [[Automaton|automata]].

=== Modern developments ===
==== Hydraulic wheel ====
A recent development of the breastshot wheel is a hydraulic wheel which effectively incorporates automatic regulation systems. The Aqualienne is one example. It generates between 37&nbsp;kW and 200&nbsp;kW of electricity from a {{Convert|20|m3||abbr=on}} waterflow with a head of {{Convert|1 to 3.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name=aqualienne>{{cite web| url=http://www.h3eindustries.com/How-does-an-Aqualienne%C2%AE-work | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711163044/http://www.h3eindustries.com/How-does-an-Aqualienne%C2%AE-work |archive-date=2017-07-11 |title=Comment fonctionne une Aqualienne?| language=fr}}</ref> It is designed to produce electricity at the sites of former watermills.