This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

The power of flowing water can be used to produce electricity.This can be done anywhere there is water and a hill for it to flowdown rapidly.

Micro-hydro systems produce electric power from water. Thesesmall water-powered systems can produce up to fifteen kilowatts ofelectrical power. This is enough to provide electricity for avillage of fifty to eighty houses to use to power lights and smallmotors. It does not provide enough power for industrial uses.Micro-hydro systems are important for villages that are near waterand do not have electric power.

Before you begin the project, you should make sure that peopleliving near you approve. People protest if there is less water forthem to use for their crops or for washing clothes.

Building or buying a micro-hydro system requires planning. First,someone has to estimate the amount of electrical power the fallingwater can produce. It is a complex process. It is necessary to findout how far the water drops and to measure the amount of water thatflows past an area each second. These numbers can show how muchelectrical power can be produced. Then you can buy or build amicro-hydro system of the right size.

Next you need to decide if falling water needs to flow inside apipe or can flow freely. A long pipe costs more, but the water iseasier to control. Even if the water flows freely, it must enter apiece of pipe just before it flows into a machine called a turbine.The water flowing through the pipe turns a large wheel in theturbine around. The turbine sends the power to a generator thatcreates electricity.

Heavy rain can cause a problem for a micro-hydro system. The raincarries grass, leaves and other material into waterways. This cancause the turbine to stop turning. The problem can be prevented byplacing steel bars in the pipe before the water flows into theturbine. These steel bars catch the material before it can damagethe machine.

People who can use flowing water to produce electricity have afree supply of energy. You can get more information about projectslike this from the group Volunteers in Technical Assistance. VITA ison the Internet at vita.org.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by GaryGarriott.