Austin White Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 I'm wondering if I can make a water Wheel in a Creek that has barely any water going threw it and if it's legal to make a dam on part of the creek that's on our land. The creek is 15 feet at its deepest point and I have alot of sandstone, knocked down trees, but the creek bed is made of sand and stones. I know how to partially make Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 Welcome aboard. Yes, no, maybe? That all depends on where you live. Which is the reason we encourage folks to fill out the header and let us know where you are from. I assume that you are in the states but we have members here from all over the world, so i do not know. Many questions you may ask, like the dam building, or designing a smoke stack, or building a shop, even to how much the average on the price of an anvil is is dependent on where you are at. Dam, smoke stack, and shop building are all dictated by your local building codes. I can tell you what they are in Dayton Oh. but i have no clue as to what they would be in Bug Tussle Missouri. I may also point out that even though i can tell you my local building codes, do not take my word for it even here. I am not a building inspector, city engineer, or planner. Go and get that information straight from the horses mouth so to say. Anyway, again welcome to the site. Make beautiful things and show them off. Have fun and stay safe doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 Welcome aboard Austin, glad to have you. As already suggested if you put your general location in the header you'll have a much better chance of meeting up with members living within visiting distance. You REALLY need to do some research before you so much as drop a stone in the stream. At a very minimum the EPA must approve any modification of a waterway or body with a POSSIBLE exception of ponds on private property. You may own the land but you do NOT own the stream. As far as mechanically, sure you can make a water driven blacksmith or other shop by a low volume stream, it's been done for thousands of years. If you need serious power you can rig a water wheel that lifts or pumps water to a high tank. If you want to avoid the incredibly complicated and long lasting revolving circus getting something like this approved by the Feds, State, city and local regulators, drill a well and let a windmill pump the water to a high tank. Of course an electric well pump will fill it faster and you'll be able to use it longer and more often but there is no such thing as a free lunch the electric bill to pump the water will be higher than running the shop electrically in the first place. I'm not trying to kill your dreams but you do NOT want to butt heads with the various gvt agencies without knowing what you're getting into and having your ducks in a row. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. I will echo what the other folk have said. Changing the natural flow of a watercourse by building a dam and impounding water behind it may need local, state, and federal approvals. You may need a "Dredge and Fill" permit from the Corps of Engineers. In some states any flowing water is included in "the waters of the state" and subject to state regulation. This may amount to a LOT of paperwork, hassle, and money OR it may be pretty simple, particularly at a small scale where all water is returning to the stream. A lot of times various levels of review and approval are driven by how much water you are going to impound. I'd check first with your local (probably county) Planning Office and possibly with whatever your state calls you State Engineer (it may be something like the state department of natural resources). They will be able to give you an idea of how much of a paperwork project this would be and if you need to involve professionals like engineers or hydrologists to get any needed approval. If you decide to do a project like Frosty suggests where you lift water to a tank to get a greater head look into water rams to lift the water. They use the flow of the stream to lift a small amount of water (which adds up ovoer time). Also, you will want to look into water wheel technology such as over shot and under shoot wheels and various internal wheels and turbines that were used in the 19th century. BTW, all the permit discussion assumes that you are in the United States. As far as we know you could be in Tasmania or Lapland. This is a world wide forum. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 Welcome from the Ozark Mountains. I wanted to do the same by damming a small creek on our property just to make a pond. Here in the U.S. the hoops I would have had to jump through and the massive expense involved by all the agencies just to get the approval to proceed was way beyond my ability to even get started. Just an idea for you to look at from one Federal agency. https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_rm-federal-guidelines-for-dam-safety.pdf I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 I would bet that any dam would have to engineered to resist and not fail if a 100 year flood came down the drainage. Rocks and trees piled up in the stream bed would wash out quickly and make problems for folk downstream. Sorry to be a wet blanket but that is the reality of the world. GNM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.