Wim Klunne refused to reply, no explanation given
Hartvigsen: "I have re-read it and stand by what is written", referring to his posting to Yahoo microyhydro Group of Dec.12, 05:
http://www.mail-archive.com/microhydro@yahoogroups.com/msg01659.html
microhydro@yahoogroups.com 12 marzo 2009 • 4:11AM -0400
[microhydro] Re: Open letter to Wim Klunne, http://microhydropower.net e-group, site owner
by Joseph Hartvigsen
Ron,
I don't know what you are referring to in some of your comments below. I will delete those portions in order make it easier to see what you've said, and number the points that I will respond to.
1)
Ingela Carlsson exits, just as surely as her late husband did when he created the spoon design and made the considerable investment in an injection mold. I have received packages of spoons mailed directly to me from Mrs. Carlsson with a note enclosed in her own hand. Peter has offered to take you to meet Mrs. Carlsson in Sweden. Peter has a nice guest house and is a gracious host. I have stayed there. He can show you many nice small hydro sites. His only requirement was that after doing so that you stop making these absurd claims and pay him the requested amount for the spoons you have sold.
Peter was contacted by several people regarding the "reward". He explained the situation and what it has been like dealing with Ron for years. They understood, got a good laugh out of it all and left. This does not change the fact of that the spoons came from the Carlsson estate.
You have harassed me for years on this issue. I've asked you the following and you've never answered - just like you never told me which question in the previously posted quiz you can not answer "TRUE".
>From: Joseph Hartvigsen
>To: davis ron
>Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 9:17:03 AM
>Subject: Re: Can you offer any proof whatsoever ?
> Ron,
> Where do you think the spoons came from?
> A. They sprouted legs and crawled out of the swamp.
> B. The stork brought them.
> C. My sister found them in a reed basket floating in the bull rushes.
> D. An alien abducted me and I stole them from their ship before I got away.
> E. Santa left them because someone was a very good boy.
> Or, the only plausible explanation is the one that I've been giving for nearly a decade, and is the one you
> accepted until the owner requested you pay to copy something that belonged to them.
> This has long since gone past the ridiculous and absurd and is well into the insane.
> LEAVE ME ALONE !
> Joe
So Ron, if the spoons did not come from where we've always said they came from, WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?
2)
Can you be more specific as to how I've threatened or insulted you other than just stating facts and history?
3)
Thank you for providing the group my prior posting to this group on this issue in the link
http://www.mail-archive.com/microhydro@yahoogroups.com/msg01659.html
I have re-read it and stand by what is written.
You state "Many other statements made in this posting can be shown to be completely untrue". I am not aware of what that is. Can you please enumerate the specific questions, as I did in the quiz I posted for you?
4)
I can't speak for Nando, but I know he isn't disputing the fact that Ingela Carlsson was Peter's original source for the spoons left after her husband passed away. Rather, I think he is saying (if he isn't I am) that it is irrelevant. They came from somewhere. Maybe we haven't proven to you or the world that Peter now owns the spoons (though as the sole source in the world it seems obvious), but it is clearly proven that you A) are not the creator of this specific form and B) you do not have the permission of the creator or his assignee to copy the spoon and C) you have admitted using a part that I received from Mrs. Carlsson as the form to create a mold for making copies. How would you finding and harassing Mrs. Carlsson like you've harassed Peter, me, Wim and Nando change anything?
5)
If you've read what I've written it is clear. Peter bought the design from Mrs. Carlsson. He (Cargo & Kraft) now owns it. It is that simple. Do I need to show you every place I've told you that?
The details of the transactions between Peter and Mrs. Carlsson are a private matter that is absolutely none of your business, nor is it any business of mine. It is strictly between the two parties of the transaction. There are no competing claims of ownership here (other than your claim of open ownership which has been clearly refuted). I accept the fact that Peter is now the owner of the design. As such, I have entered into agreements with Cargo & Kraft allowing me to produce this design.
It is long past time that you acknowledge that Cargo & Kraft AB of Sweden is the sole owner of this particular design. As I have blocked your email address your admission will have to be by posting to this group. I think we will all be happy to have this resolved and behind us.
6)
They have posted your message as you've insisted. The group is probably tired of this, but I don't need to hide from your questions. Can we now insist that you give specific, clear and rational answers to the questions I've posed here, and the true/false quiz I posted earlier?
Joe
--- In microhydro@yaho..., ottorike@... wrote:
>
>
> Open letter to Wim Klunne, http://microhydropower.net e-group site owner
>
1)
> I do know, and can prove to anyone's satisfaction, that you have been a active party from the beginning to Hartvigsen's and Ruyter's "Widow Carlson" fraudulent attempt to take over the public domain Swedish turgo turbine design we use.
> Hartvigsen had already been using this ficticious story for years, with never any proof provided that their Widow Ingela Carlson existed.
2)
> Just threats and insults, as you saw.
1 cont')
> You were later informed that the Swedish police, government welfare agencies, and five detective agencies found no proof that such a person ever existed. A $1000 dollar reward offered in eleven Swedish newspapers had the same result.
> You had been repeatedly told there was no such person even before you allowed Hartvigsen's Dec. 12, 05 posting to the group (below), (which you have now removed from the archives).
3)
> http://www.mail-archive.com/microhydro@yaho.../msg01659.html
>
> (Many other statements made in this posting can be shown to be completely untrue simply by reading the early group archives.(http://microhydropower.net, search: turgo))
4)
> Now, after years of allowing Hartvigsen to tell the members that the reason my turbines are illegal is because his partner Ruyter bought the design from the widow of the still un-named designer, who I am cheating out of her legitimate royalty payments, you are still allowing Hartvigsen and "Nando" to continue to make the same ownership claim on your site, but now without the widow Carlson story!
> "Nando" is now saying, Forget the Widow!
5)
> You must really think the members are stupid. What an insult to the group!
> Tell me, who do Hartvigsen and Ruyter now claim to have bought the design from, and who am I now supposed to be cheating out of their rightful royalty payments?
> Did you bother to ask? Obviously not!
> Yet you continue to allow Hartvigsen "Nando" to make the same accusations against me on your site, still telling the world that my turbines are illegal.
6)
> In any case I have to insist on being able to face my accusers.
> I intend, one way or the other, to make the truth of this matter known.
>
> Ron Davis
> watermotor.net
> watermotor@yahoo.com
joseph hartvigsen hydro peter ruyter cargo and kraft turgo turbine runner ceramatec micro hydro sweden fraud yahoo microhydro group
Friday, September 17, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Progress Report on Watermotor Project to Yahoo Microhydro Group, Watermotor in the Andes, Jan. 26, 2005
[microhydro] Watermotor in the Andes
From Ron & Diane
Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:46:26 -0800
Jan. 26, 2005
We have invented what seems to be the only modern turbine specifically
designed to run machine directly with waterpower.
This amounts to a revival of traditional waterpower use.
The direct use of the the turbine's mechanical power makes it practical
to use much smaller waterpower sources, because 50-150 % more energy is
obtained than if the mechanical power were to be converted into
electricity, then back again to mechanical power. Smaller waterpower
sources are exponentially more plentiful.
The turbine also has better torque characteristics than an electric motor,
and of course can't overheat or be damaged through hard use. This makes it
possible to use a nominally smaller amount of power to do the same amount
of work.
Naturally the cost of the equipment and installation will be
significantly lower--from 50-80 % percent lower.
The main obstacle to the direct use of waterpower to run machines was that
turbines normally did not have an on/off control switch, as does an
electric motor. This is not important when running a generator, but is
essential to the safe operation of a table saw, and most other machines.
So a power control switch was what we needed to invent in order to create
the Watermotor. This took a number of years, and many designs.
The result can be seen on our www.watermotor.net web-site.
We have a small demonstration site on the eastern slope of the Andes,
about 3 hours from La Paz, Bolivia. It is a good example of a minimal
installation that provides a substantial amount of power. It has a 18 meter
head, a single 4" thinwall plastic penstock, bringing the basic
installation cost to around $1000 u.s. We use the power to grind grain,
run a table saw, auto alternator for charging batteries, air
compressor---nearly any function normally using a fixed electric motor.
We would very much like to see the Watermotor made available throughout
the "developing world". The design adheres as much as possible to the
tenants of appropriate technology invention. It is constructed from
universally available materials, by common metal-shop processes. It is
certified 75% efficient by the hydraulic institute of the University of San
Andres. The larger model used a bronze turgo wheel and can produce 20 h.p.
The Watermotor power control switch is patented here in Bolivia.
We are interested in helping to produce Watermotors in other parts of the
world by supplying technical know-how.
The long distance promotion of low cost technology is far more practical
than ever before with the use of the Internet and digital cameras.
We are soon to build a Campo Nuevo Permaculture greenhouse in New Zealand
this way. The builders will be able to consult with us at nearly no cost
several times a day, if need be.
The Watermotor web-site has more information and explanations of why we
chose to invent the Watermotor.
The is also an article about my work in Home power Magazine #71, June-July
1999. It is in the web. Although you will see that the design has greatly
evolved since then, the philosophy is the same.
All the best,
Ron Davis,
Campo Nuevo,
La Paz, Bolivia
From Ron & Diane
Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:46:26 -0800
Jan. 26, 2005
We have invented what seems to be the only modern turbine specifically
designed to run machine directly with waterpower.
This amounts to a revival of traditional waterpower use.
The direct use of the the turbine's mechanical power makes it practical
to use much smaller waterpower sources, because 50-150 % more energy is
obtained than if the mechanical power were to be converted into
electricity, then back again to mechanical power. Smaller waterpower
sources are exponentially more plentiful.
The turbine also has better torque characteristics than an electric motor,
and of course can't overheat or be damaged through hard use. This makes it
possible to use a nominally smaller amount of power to do the same amount
of work.
Naturally the cost of the equipment and installation will be
significantly lower--from 50-80 % percent lower.
The main obstacle to the direct use of waterpower to run machines was that
turbines normally did not have an on/off control switch, as does an
electric motor. This is not important when running a generator, but is
essential to the safe operation of a table saw, and most other machines.
So a power control switch was what we needed to invent in order to create
the Watermotor. This took a number of years, and many designs.
The result can be seen on our www.watermotor.net web-site.
We have a small demonstration site on the eastern slope of the Andes,
about 3 hours from La Paz, Bolivia. It is a good example of a minimal
installation that provides a substantial amount of power. It has a 18 meter
head, a single 4" thinwall plastic penstock, bringing the basic
installation cost to around $1000 u.s. We use the power to grind grain,
run a table saw, auto alternator for charging batteries, air
compressor---nearly any function normally using a fixed electric motor.
We would very much like to see the Watermotor made available throughout
the "developing world". The design adheres as much as possible to the
tenants of appropriate technology invention. It is constructed from
universally available materials, by common metal-shop processes. It is
certified 75% efficient by the hydraulic institute of the University of San
Andres. The larger model used a bronze turgo wheel and can produce 20 h.p.
The Watermotor power control switch is patented here in Bolivia.
We are interested in helping to produce Watermotors in other parts of the
world by supplying technical know-how.
The long distance promotion of low cost technology is far more practical
than ever before with the use of the Internet and digital cameras.
We are soon to build a Campo Nuevo Permaculture greenhouse in New Zealand
this way. The builders will be able to consult with us at nearly no cost
several times a day, if need be.
The Watermotor web-site has more information and explanations of why we
chose to invent the Watermotor.
The is also an article about my work in Home power Magazine #71, June-July
1999. It is in the web. Although you will see that the design has greatly
evolved since then, the philosophy is the same.
All the best,
Ron Davis,
Campo Nuevo,
La Paz, Bolivia
Home Power Magazine--Waterpower in the Andes, Yesterday's solutions for Today's Needs, June /July 1999
Water Power In The Andes
Yesterday's Solution For Today's Needs
HomePower Magazine #71 June/July 1999
original article with photos at:
http://ps-survival.com/PS/Hydro-Power/Water_Motor_In_Bolivia_Runs_Table_Saw_Home_Power_Magazine_2004.pdf
Going to work these days is always a bit of a thrill for me--often more than I care for. It means crossing a 15,000 foot (4,570 m) pass over the Bolivian Andes and snaking down a muddy one lane road carved into the face of immense cliffs. The Most Dangerous Road in the World was the title of an old National Geographic article...
World's Largest Solar Machine
Actually I'm entering the world's biggest solar energy machine-the Amazon basin. Towering glacier-topped 20,000 foot (6,100 m) mountains are clearly visible from our tropical water power demonstration site. This mountainous east-facing wall so thoroughly captures the Amazon moisture that the western side-the Atacama desert-is the driest place in the world. Sometimes rain only falls there a few times during an entire lifetime.
But on this side, it's just the opposite. Uncounted streams and waterfalls abound, some falling hundreds of feet directly onto the roadway! About 80 people die yearly on this short section of road, since it is very narrow and slippery. Vehicles that slip off the road can simply disappear into dense vegetation a thousand feet (300 m) below. It's incredible to think that this is the only road into a tropical part of Bolivia that's the size of Texas.
It's a relief to arrive in the lovely 5,500 foot (1676 m) high town of Coroico, near our demo site. Green hillsides are covered with coffee, citrus, and bananas. This also happens to be the home of Bolivia's traditional coca leaf production, so the area is much affected by the U.S. "War on Drugs."
Campo Nuevo-Meeting People's Needs
Our family-sized appropriate technology organization, Campo Nuevo, was started to better the lives of Bolivia's rural poor. We teach them how to use their local natural resources for energy. We show them how easy it is to employ the abundant small local sources of water power to improve their lives. This can help make it possible for them to remain on their land and in their own communities.
We are working with Aymara speaking native Americans, one of the largest and most intact indigenous cultures in the Western Hemisphere. Notable for having withstood the Incan conquest, and later the Spaniards, the Aymaras are now succumbing to the pressures of modern global economics. Like rural people all over the "third world," they are being forced to relocate simply to survive. They usually migrate to a desolate l3,000 foot (3,960 m) suburb of La Paz, in order to compete for unskilled, low paying, and often temporary jobs.
A New/Old Solution
Although they may not realize it, what visitors to our demonstration site see is not actually new. It's actually a revival of the now nearly forgotten traditional use of water power. For thousands of years before the invention of centrally-generated electricity, water power was employed to directly run machines, something it does very well.
What is new is the development of a modern low-cost turbine specifically for this purpose-a "motor" driven by water power. We call it the "Watermotor." It can provide the energy to drive a variety of machines, replacing the mid-sized electric motors upon which nearly all modern production depends.
Lester Pelton, who invented the pelton wheel, produced a variety of these water powered motors and they were in use before l900. They were used to power individual machines-he even used one to run a sewing machine! The direct drive hydro units were replaced by electric motors after the popularization of centrally produced electricity.
Few people realize how closely rural poverty is related to the lack of machines necessary for local production and services. In the third world, the power grid is usually confined to cities and large towns. Rural people still use muscle power as everyone did in the past, and they do without electric lights. The need to generate cash to buy anything they don't produce themselves causes a focus on cash crops. This further reduces their self-sufficiency, encouraging a downward spiral towards dependency on a system that cannot be depended upon!
Demo Site
At our new Campo Nuevo demonstration site, we are featuring practical machines, directly powered by water. There are woodworking tools, air compressors, grain mills and an auto alternator to charge batteries and provide lighting. This is switched on when mechanical power is not being used, run by the same belt drive that powers the tools.
The main attraction at our site is our Campo Nuevo Watermotor driving a multipurpose woodworking unit. The machine is suitable for producing doors, window frames and furniture-necessities usually purchased from the city. It processes locally produced lumber instead of wood carried up from the Amazon forest.
The Watermotor at our demonstration site is provided with power from a water source located 60 feet (18.3 m) above the machine by 160 feet (50m.) of lightweight 4" plastic pipe
. We get 1.3 h.p at 1850 r.p.m.s using 115 gal. (440 l.) per minute with the Watermotor Model 90 , and 2.5 h.p. at 1000 r.p.m.s with Model 150 using about 225 gal. (850 l.) per minute.
At the heart of our Watermotor turbine is a Swedish designed 4 jet Turgo wheel and a patented Turgo control system which provides the same instant on/off power control as an electric motor.
Unlike an electric motor, the Watermotor costs nothing to operate and can't be "burned out" from hard use.
It's Not Easy
Not much of this area is served by roads or the power grid. The U.S. owned (and U.S. priced) power generating system has little incentive to provide long distance lines to a widely scattered and typically impoverished rural population. Water power is the sole available practical source of energy to run machines. There is not a good wind resource in the mountain valleys and PV is just not economical, compared to the abundant water power here.
There are major obstacles to the introduction of unfamiliar technology to an indigenous population that has traditionally used no machines of any kind. These people have little money to invest in anything that does not promise a practical return. In addition to this, the Aymaras are unlikely to be reached by advertising in the newspapers from La Paz. This is why we felt that a local demonstration site was necessary.
Other problems are encountered when machines, however useful, need to be "professionally" installed, maintained or repaired. Such services are frequently unreliable, hard to come by in rural areas, and expensive when available.
Keep It Simple
In designing the Watermotor system, we have tried to overcome these obstacles as much as possible. It is designed to be user-installed, maintained, and repaired because of the difficulties in finding competent, honest and reliable technical services in rural areas of Bolivia. Because the Watermotor is locally produced from common materials, most parts can be easily replaced.
The efficiency of direct drive water power is a big advantage. A surprisingly small amount of water falling a short distance can produce the 0.5 to 5 h.p. of mechanical power required by most common machines. This means that many potential water power sites are available, and a minimum of civil engineering is required.
Of course the power output of the Watermotor depends on the fall and the amount of water that one uses to run it. Here are some examples of other possible installations and the energy output that they would produce:
A Watermotor Model 90 would produce:
1.5 h.p.at 2365 r.p.m.s with a 100 ft. (30.5 m.) fall and 75 gal.(284 l.) per minute.
3 h.p. at 2900 r.p.m.s with 150 ft (46 m.) fall and 100 gal.(378 l.) per minute.
A Model 150 will produce:
2 h.p. at 865 r.p.m.s with a 40 ft. (12.2 m.) fall.and 250 gal. (950 l.) per minute
3 h.p. at 950 r.p.m.s with a 75 ft. fall (23 m.) and 200 gal.(750 l.) per minute
5 h.p. at 1366 r.p.m.s with a 100 ft.(30.5 m.) fall and 250 gal.(950 l.) per minute
The Watermotor itself is very simple to operate, and maintain. It functions efficiently in a variety of water power situations. By merely experimenting with easily changed water jets of different sizes, it is possible to vary maximum power output. This also allows the turbine to maintain efficient output over seasonal water flow variations. A single control handle diverts water away from the Turgo wheel, instantly cutting power.
The Watermotor can be used to drive most stationary machines normally driven by an externally-mounted electric motor or small gasoline engine in the 0.5 to 4 horsepower range.
Machines being driven by the Watermotor can be mounted directly on the turbine housing or beside the turbine. The tools are connected to the Watermotor by a standard belt, which limits the distance between the two parts of the system.
Make the Comparison
How does the Watermotor stack up against the competition? I asked a couple of renewable energy experts to give me the rough cost of a wind or photovoltaic system capable of producing 2 1/2 hp of mechanical energy 24 hours a day, including installation in rural Bolivia and technical expertise for maintenance and repair.
Richard Perez of Home Power said, "Well, the photovoltaic panels alone will cost about US$35,000. And the requirement for 24 hour power at that level means a very large battery bank which will bring the system cost up to around US$70,000. And we still need to add small stuff like racks, inverter, and controls. Overall, I'd say about US$80,000. It really points out how cheap hydro is.
Mick Sagrillo, North American wind power guru, said, "My guess, using off the shelf equipment, would be that you'd need a Bergey Excel. While it's larger than what's needed, it's cheaper than putting up several smaller turbines. Cost for genny and controls is about US$19,000, less tower, wiring, batteries, and balance of systems components. Total system cost would be roughly US$35,000.
The one message I always deliver at my wind power workshops is that if anyone has a good hydro site, they're in the wrong workshop. While wind is cheaper than PV, it's no comparison for a hydro site with a 100 percent capacity factor."
Now, this is not a scientific comparison, and these are admittedly rough figures. But the Watermotor can do this-produce 2 1/2 hp continuous-with a system cost of less than US$2,000. It's user installable and maintainable (two lube points), and easily repairable. It has only one moving part and is immune to damage from hard use. Consider also the sources of PV and wind equipment (all imported) and the possibility of damage from misuse or poor maintenance.
Watermotor type designs were abandoned about l00 years ago in the developed world in favor of electric motors. To the best of my knowledge, there are no machines equivalent to the Watermotor being produced today. Generally, very few products, no matter how useful, are produced with the aim of promoting self-sufficiency among the rural poor.
Making It Available
The best advertisement for our water driven machines is for them to be seen hard at work by the many people passing the demo site daily. Woodworking and grain milling machines in particular have a substantial per-hour cash value. Because the Watermotor is immune to damage from hard use, it is suitable to rent or lease. At current rates, the entire cost of a Watermotor installation should be recovered in only a few months.
We expect visitors to our demonstration site to have their own ideas about how they can use the Watermotor. The success of this site will provide us with knowledge and incentive to build similar sites in other parts of Bolivia.
While Bolivia is especially rich in water power resources, many other parts of the world have similar conditions, and similar needs. We would like to see this clean, self-renewing, and easy to use natural resource made available to all.
Access
Author: Ron Davis, Campo Nuevo, Casilla 4365 La Paz, Bolivia *
Phone/Fax: (59l) (2) 2485022 * mail@watermotor.net.
Campo Nuevo is a California registered 50l(c)3 non-profit organization founded over fifteen years ago by Ron Davis and Diane Bellomy to bring simple technology to Bolivia's indigenous people.
For more information contact Ron Davis or Diane Bellomy at:
Campo Nuevo
Email:
Casilla 4365, La Paz, Bolivia.
Telephone: (591-2) 2485022
Mobile: (591-2) 71527700
turgo turbine peter ruyter bolivia sweden wim klunne brian kunzler attorney lawyer ceramatec water motor micro hydro campo nuevo h-hydro.com joseph hartvigsen hydro self-reliance natural energy
Yesterday's Solution For Today's Needs
HomePower Magazine #71 June/July 1999
original article with photos at:
http://ps-survival.com/PS/Hydro-Power/Water_Motor_In_Bolivia_Runs_Table_Saw_Home_Power_Magazine_2004.pdf
Going to work these days is always a bit of a thrill for me--often more than I care for. It means crossing a 15,000 foot (4,570 m) pass over the Bolivian Andes and snaking down a muddy one lane road carved into the face of immense cliffs. The Most Dangerous Road in the World was the title of an old National Geographic article...
World's Largest Solar Machine
Actually I'm entering the world's biggest solar energy machine-the Amazon basin. Towering glacier-topped 20,000 foot (6,100 m) mountains are clearly visible from our tropical water power demonstration site. This mountainous east-facing wall so thoroughly captures the Amazon moisture that the western side-the Atacama desert-is the driest place in the world. Sometimes rain only falls there a few times during an entire lifetime.
But on this side, it's just the opposite. Uncounted streams and waterfalls abound, some falling hundreds of feet directly onto the roadway! About 80 people die yearly on this short section of road, since it is very narrow and slippery. Vehicles that slip off the road can simply disappear into dense vegetation a thousand feet (300 m) below. It's incredible to think that this is the only road into a tropical part of Bolivia that's the size of Texas.
It's a relief to arrive in the lovely 5,500 foot (1676 m) high town of Coroico, near our demo site. Green hillsides are covered with coffee, citrus, and bananas. This also happens to be the home of Bolivia's traditional coca leaf production, so the area is much affected by the U.S. "War on Drugs."
Campo Nuevo-Meeting People's Needs
Our family-sized appropriate technology organization, Campo Nuevo, was started to better the lives of Bolivia's rural poor. We teach them how to use their local natural resources for energy. We show them how easy it is to employ the abundant small local sources of water power to improve their lives. This can help make it possible for them to remain on their land and in their own communities.
We are working with Aymara speaking native Americans, one of the largest and most intact indigenous cultures in the Western Hemisphere. Notable for having withstood the Incan conquest, and later the Spaniards, the Aymaras are now succumbing to the pressures of modern global economics. Like rural people all over the "third world," they are being forced to relocate simply to survive. They usually migrate to a desolate l3,000 foot (3,960 m) suburb of La Paz, in order to compete for unskilled, low paying, and often temporary jobs.
A New/Old Solution
Although they may not realize it, what visitors to our demonstration site see is not actually new. It's actually a revival of the now nearly forgotten traditional use of water power. For thousands of years before the invention of centrally-generated electricity, water power was employed to directly run machines, something it does very well.
What is new is the development of a modern low-cost turbine specifically for this purpose-a "motor" driven by water power. We call it the "Watermotor." It can provide the energy to drive a variety of machines, replacing the mid-sized electric motors upon which nearly all modern production depends.
Lester Pelton, who invented the pelton wheel, produced a variety of these water powered motors and they were in use before l900. They were used to power individual machines-he even used one to run a sewing machine! The direct drive hydro units were replaced by electric motors after the popularization of centrally produced electricity.
Few people realize how closely rural poverty is related to the lack of machines necessary for local production and services. In the third world, the power grid is usually confined to cities and large towns. Rural people still use muscle power as everyone did in the past, and they do without electric lights. The need to generate cash to buy anything they don't produce themselves causes a focus on cash crops. This further reduces their self-sufficiency, encouraging a downward spiral towards dependency on a system that cannot be depended upon!
Demo Site
At our new Campo Nuevo demonstration site, we are featuring practical machines, directly powered by water. There are woodworking tools, air compressors, grain mills and an auto alternator to charge batteries and provide lighting. This is switched on when mechanical power is not being used, run by the same belt drive that powers the tools.
The main attraction at our site is our Campo Nuevo Watermotor driving a multipurpose woodworking unit. The machine is suitable for producing doors, window frames and furniture-necessities usually purchased from the city. It processes locally produced lumber instead of wood carried up from the Amazon forest.
The Watermotor at our demonstration site is provided with power from a water source located 60 feet (18.3 m) above the machine by 160 feet (50m.) of lightweight 4" plastic pipe
. We get 1.3 h.p at 1850 r.p.m.s using 115 gal. (440 l.) per minute with the Watermotor Model 90 , and 2.5 h.p. at 1000 r.p.m.s with Model 150 using about 225 gal. (850 l.) per minute.
At the heart of our Watermotor turbine is a Swedish designed 4 jet Turgo wheel and a patented Turgo control system which provides the same instant on/off power control as an electric motor.
Unlike an electric motor, the Watermotor costs nothing to operate and can't be "burned out" from hard use.
It's Not Easy
Not much of this area is served by roads or the power grid. The U.S. owned (and U.S. priced) power generating system has little incentive to provide long distance lines to a widely scattered and typically impoverished rural population. Water power is the sole available practical source of energy to run machines. There is not a good wind resource in the mountain valleys and PV is just not economical, compared to the abundant water power here.
There are major obstacles to the introduction of unfamiliar technology to an indigenous population that has traditionally used no machines of any kind. These people have little money to invest in anything that does not promise a practical return. In addition to this, the Aymaras are unlikely to be reached by advertising in the newspapers from La Paz. This is why we felt that a local demonstration site was necessary.
Other problems are encountered when machines, however useful, need to be "professionally" installed, maintained or repaired. Such services are frequently unreliable, hard to come by in rural areas, and expensive when available.
Keep It Simple
In designing the Watermotor system, we have tried to overcome these obstacles as much as possible. It is designed to be user-installed, maintained, and repaired because of the difficulties in finding competent, honest and reliable technical services in rural areas of Bolivia. Because the Watermotor is locally produced from common materials, most parts can be easily replaced.
The efficiency of direct drive water power is a big advantage. A surprisingly small amount of water falling a short distance can produce the 0.5 to 5 h.p. of mechanical power required by most common machines. This means that many potential water power sites are available, and a minimum of civil engineering is required.
Of course the power output of the Watermotor depends on the fall and the amount of water that one uses to run it. Here are some examples of other possible installations and the energy output that they would produce:
A Watermotor Model 90 would produce:
1.5 h.p.at 2365 r.p.m.s with a 100 ft. (30.5 m.) fall and 75 gal.(284 l.) per minute.
3 h.p. at 2900 r.p.m.s with 150 ft (46 m.) fall and 100 gal.(378 l.) per minute.
A Model 150 will produce:
2 h.p. at 865 r.p.m.s with a 40 ft. (12.2 m.) fall.and 250 gal. (950 l.) per minute
3 h.p. at 950 r.p.m.s with a 75 ft. fall (23 m.) and 200 gal.(750 l.) per minute
5 h.p. at 1366 r.p.m.s with a 100 ft.(30.5 m.) fall and 250 gal.(950 l.) per minute
The Watermotor itself is very simple to operate, and maintain. It functions efficiently in a variety of water power situations. By merely experimenting with easily changed water jets of different sizes, it is possible to vary maximum power output. This also allows the turbine to maintain efficient output over seasonal water flow variations. A single control handle diverts water away from the Turgo wheel, instantly cutting power.
The Watermotor can be used to drive most stationary machines normally driven by an externally-mounted electric motor or small gasoline engine in the 0.5 to 4 horsepower range.
Machines being driven by the Watermotor can be mounted directly on the turbine housing or beside the turbine. The tools are connected to the Watermotor by a standard belt, which limits the distance between the two parts of the system.
Make the Comparison
How does the Watermotor stack up against the competition? I asked a couple of renewable energy experts to give me the rough cost of a wind or photovoltaic system capable of producing 2 1/2 hp of mechanical energy 24 hours a day, including installation in rural Bolivia and technical expertise for maintenance and repair.
Richard Perez of Home Power said, "Well, the photovoltaic panels alone will cost about US$35,000. And the requirement for 24 hour power at that level means a very large battery bank which will bring the system cost up to around US$70,000. And we still need to add small stuff like racks, inverter, and controls. Overall, I'd say about US$80,000. It really points out how cheap hydro is.
Mick Sagrillo, North American wind power guru, said, "My guess, using off the shelf equipment, would be that you'd need a Bergey Excel. While it's larger than what's needed, it's cheaper than putting up several smaller turbines. Cost for genny and controls is about US$19,000, less tower, wiring, batteries, and balance of systems components. Total system cost would be roughly US$35,000.
The one message I always deliver at my wind power workshops is that if anyone has a good hydro site, they're in the wrong workshop. While wind is cheaper than PV, it's no comparison for a hydro site with a 100 percent capacity factor."
Now, this is not a scientific comparison, and these are admittedly rough figures. But the Watermotor can do this-produce 2 1/2 hp continuous-with a system cost of less than US$2,000. It's user installable and maintainable (two lube points), and easily repairable. It has only one moving part and is immune to damage from hard use. Consider also the sources of PV and wind equipment (all imported) and the possibility of damage from misuse or poor maintenance.
Watermotor type designs were abandoned about l00 years ago in the developed world in favor of electric motors. To the best of my knowledge, there are no machines equivalent to the Watermotor being produced today. Generally, very few products, no matter how useful, are produced with the aim of promoting self-sufficiency among the rural poor.
Making It Available
The best advertisement for our water driven machines is for them to be seen hard at work by the many people passing the demo site daily. Woodworking and grain milling machines in particular have a substantial per-hour cash value. Because the Watermotor is immune to damage from hard use, it is suitable to rent or lease. At current rates, the entire cost of a Watermotor installation should be recovered in only a few months.
We expect visitors to our demonstration site to have their own ideas about how they can use the Watermotor. The success of this site will provide us with knowledge and incentive to build similar sites in other parts of Bolivia.
While Bolivia is especially rich in water power resources, many other parts of the world have similar conditions, and similar needs. We would like to see this clean, self-renewing, and easy to use natural resource made available to all.
Access
Author: Ron Davis, Campo Nuevo, Casilla 4365 La Paz, Bolivia *
Phone/Fax: (59l) (2) 2485022 * mail@watermotor.net.
Campo Nuevo is a California registered 50l(c)3 non-profit organization founded over fifteen years ago by Ron Davis and Diane Bellomy to bring simple technology to Bolivia's indigenous people.
For more information contact Ron Davis or Diane Bellomy at:
Campo Nuevo
Email:
Casilla 4365, La Paz, Bolivia.
Telephone: (591-2) 2485022
Mobile: (591-2) 71527700
turgo turbine peter ruyter bolivia sweden wim klunne brian kunzler attorney lawyer ceramatec water motor micro hydro campo nuevo h-hydro.com joseph hartvigsen hydro self-reliance natural energy
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