help for a power supply in Vanuatu

[colin]

We have a farm in Vanuatu, no power but a stream with very little head, it is artesian water and flows 24/7 the  flow is .73m3 per sec and we have a spot were we can fit an underslung wheel. the stream narrows to .6m deep x 1.2m wide and the flow through there is about 1m/sec.
Can someone tell me what power potential that has if I use an underslung water wheel. damming the stream is not an option, we also want to have a minumal effect on the stream if possible
We found a site that calculated about 9hp from that we thought about a 3m poncelet wheel in the stream powering an alternator feeding into our existing battery bank and invertor setup.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
We have bought a powerpal low head wheel, paid for it two years ago and it still has not shown up. This time we will build ourselves.

[keithturtle]

It sounds like a good source at 9 hp, about 5kW.   You'll need at least 2/3 metre fall to make the breastshot wheel work, I think.   Is noise an issue?   Did you see the vid in this link?

http://www.waterwheelfactory.com/Hester.htm

Turtle

[colin]

Thanks for the info, I thought that was the amount of power available also, problem is I cant get more than 1.5 m fall max. Noise is no issue.

[keithturtle]

Do some sketches; I think 1.5 metres will be plenty of fall for your Poncelet wheel

Turtle