Crazy idea number 423

[Tough Guy no. 1265]

Connect your mains water supply to a generator and get a constant free 150 watts.

[F Murtz]

Not constant, only when using water.

[Mike Barnes]

He could use water constantly, if you regard generating power from water as "using" it.

[News]

Realistically, though, could it work, for those with high incoming mains water pressure? Obviously not constantly, particularly if metered (!), but could not the incoming main be routed via a dynamo of some type, perhaps to charge batteries which would provide a constant power source?

Probably only practical for those home all day (more/regular water usage), but would the power generated be sufficient to make the project worthwhile?

Someone here (Tim?) has high water pressure. Project for this weekend? You've got three days, too! :-)

[harryagain]

Been thought of years ago. Byelaws against it in many areas.

[Brian Gaff]

Well, would this not rather reduce the flow rate?. If you had to pump the water up to a holding tank it would obviously be using up more power than you were generating. also of course, if you were not filling a tank or using water at other times, you would not make any electricity.

What you would need is to tap into a main some place so water is more likely to be being used constantly, but I suggest that doing that might just be a little bit illegal.

I've often wonder about speaker phones powered by the telephone line voltage. I used to have one that was quite loud, but one I bought more recently from Argos is pretty rubbish on the volume side. However I did notice that one could get enough current legally to trickle charge some batteries of the aa type. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

I've often wondered if it would be possible to harvest the static one gets in some houses that gives you a jolt when you touch a radiator or whatever. There is obviously some power there, but it seems its like charging a capacitor up, rather than having any constant current usability. Brian

[Mike Barnes]

High pressure is not necessarily useful. I used to live in an old house where the (static) pressure was very high but the flow rate was miserable, due to small-bore pipes. The power generated would have been truly pathetic.

[News]

In message , Brian Gaff writes

Brian, yes, it would reduce the flow rate, but, if used by those who already have high water pressure, could enough electricity be generated to be useful, if doing so reduced their high pressure to 'normal' pressure, thereby keeping the existing tank system, and sufficient residual water pressure to fill the tank without a pump?

Moving on from there, what about other moving water? Could waste water be utilised without reducing the flow too much? A few more volts every time an upstairs toilet/bath/shower was used?

[Tim Lamb]

In message , News writes

Not sure if that is me. You all know how challenging I find mathematics.

Starter for 1. Annual consumption around 227cu.m, pressure around 5bar static. Presumably 1bar or so will be needed to overcome local pipe losses and create the draw off flow.

I'm not convinced of the *physics* as I don't see energy stored in the supply.

>

[Dave Plowman (News)]

And if on a water meter, will cost you *far* more than just paying for the electricity.

[Syd Rumpo]

OK, hardly 150 watts, but water powered.

Cheers

[Davey]

We used to have a dog which had fun touching its nose to the back of our knees and watching our reaction as the static discharged and jerked our muscles.

[Davey]

I've seen some basement emergency pumps that use mains water as the power source, for use during a power outage, but this seems a bit off.

[Alan Braggins]

Yes, "constant" would be silly. But if your water was higher pressure than you needed and you were going to have a pressure reducing valve anyway, then putting in a generator upstream that generated electricity when you wanted the water flowing anyway might work, though I doubt it would be economic domestically.

The same basic principle is actually used on a larger scale though:

"Fast Company points out that, in order to be cost and energy effective, Portland's new power generators must be installed in pipes where water flows downhill, without having to be pumped, as the energy necessary to pump the water would negate the subsequent energy gleaned."

[Bod]

Laws are meaningless to Tough Guy.

[Tough Guy no. 1265]

Catch me if you can.

[Tough Guy no. 1265]

It's only illegal if you're caught. I'd say 99% of people break at least one of the following laws: Speeding Smoking marajuana Downloading mp3s

[Tough Guy no. 1265]

I live in a very wet area, there are no meters thankfully.

[Tough Guy no. 1265]

That looks like an excellent product.