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A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blades or buckets attached to the outer rim forming the drive mechanism. Water wheels were still in commercial ...
The history of water supply and sanitation is one of a logistical challenge to provide clean water and sanitation systems since the dawn of civilization. Where water resources, infrastructure or sanitation systems were insufficient, diseases spread and people fell sick or died prematurely. Astronaut Jack Lousma taking a shower in space, 1974
Water wheel used for irrigation in Nubia, painted by David Roberts in 1838. Paddle-driven water-lifting wheels had appeared in ancient Egypt by the 4th century BCE. [25] According to John Peter Oleson, both the compartmented wheel and the hydraulic noria appeared in Egypt by the 4th century BCE, with the saqiya being invented there a century later.
The water wheel and watermill are the earliest instances of machines harnessing natural forces to replace human muscular labour (apart from the sail). [3] As such, it holds a special place in the history of technology and also in economic studies where it is associated with growth.
[106] [107] This is seen as an evolution of the paddle-driven water-lifting wheels that had been known in Egypt a century earlier. [106] According to John Peter Oleson , both the compartmented wheel and the hydraulic noria may have been invented in Egypt by the 4th century BC, with the Sakia being invented there a century later.
The animal-powered sakia irrigation wheel was improved in and diffused further from Islamic Spain. The sakia [b] or animal-powered irrigation wheel was likely introduced to Islamic Spain in early Umayyad times (in the 8th century). Improvements to it were described by Hispano-Arabic agronomists in the 11th and 12th centuries.
He also created automatic doors as part of one of his elaborate water clocks, [9] and invented water wheels with cams on their axle used to operate automata. [34] According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the Italian Renaissance inventor Leonardo da Vinci may have been influenced by the classic automata of al-Jazari. [47]
The Norias of Hama (Arabic: نواعير حماة) are a series of 17 norias, historic water-raising machines for irrigation, along the Orontes River in the city of Hama, Syria. They are tall water wheels with box-like water collection compartments embedded around their rims. As the river flows, it pushes these water collection boxes under ...