— The waterwheel, one of the oldest sources of power, did not rely on animals or humans and was used for various purposes such as grinding grain, driving sawmills, forging bellows, and powering textile mills.

Water wheels designs in order of increasing complexity and efficiency. Norse wheels (left) turn millstones directly, undershot wheels (center) require gears, and overshot wheels (right) also require an elevated stream (drawing from Scientific American). Click on the image for a larger version.

Water wheels were available for hoisting materials and for crushing ores. There were mills for making beer, olive oil, poppy oil, mustard, coins, and wire. Water wheels were used in the preparation of pigment, paper, hemp, and tanning bark, and for fulling, sawing wood, boring pipes, and ventilating mines.

 — In many ways the discovery of an inclined flat-vaned water-wheel in the Nendrum 1 mill of ad 619, shed new light on the way in which water-mill forms were adapted in early medieval Europe.

 — Since its appearance in the first century BC, the water wheel has developed with increasing pre-industrial activities, and has been at the origin of the industrial revolution for metallurgy, textile mills, and paper mills. Since the nineteenth century, the water wheel has become highly efficient.

waterwheel, mechanical device for tapping the energy of running or falling water by means of a set of paddles mounted around a wheel. The force of the moving water is exerted against the paddles, and the consequent rotation of the wheel is transmitted to machinery via the shaft of the wheel.

Water has been used to power simple and complex mills since antiquity. In colonial America, mills were powered by wooden waterwheels, but as technologies and manufacturing changed during the 19th century, water turbines began to …

 — The water wheel is an ancient device that uses flowing or falling water to create power by means of paddles mounted around a wheel. The force of the water moves the paddles, and the consequent rotation of the wheel is transmitted to machinery via the shaft of the wheel.

Water wheels, also known as water mills, have been used for centuries to convert the energy of flowing water into mechanical power. In this article, we will explore the mechanism of a water wheel and delve into the benefits and drawbacks of …

 — In colonial America, waterwheels commonly provided power for sawing timber, fulling cloth, grinding grains, and making iron products. Until the second half of the 19th century, waterpower was the major mechanical power source in the United States. The principles behind waterpower are simple.