Water wheel

A wheel driven by flowing or falling water that converts the water’s energy into mechanical motion, traditionally for milling, lifting, or other work.

Overshot water wheel: A water wheel powered by water delivered onto its upper side, where the water’s weight drives rotation. Its elevated feed uses falling water and wheel weight to produce torque.
Hydropower: Energy derived from moving or falling water and converted into useful work or electricity. A water wheel is a direct mechanical use of hydropower.
Perachora watermill: The remains of an ancient Greek water-powered mill at Perachora, generally dated to the third century BCE. It is among the earliest archaeological evidence for a water wheel.
Fulling mill: A water-powered mill that cleans and thickens woven cloth by pounding it in water. Water wheels supplied the repeated mechanical strokes used in cloth finishing.
Factory system: A mode of production that concentrates workers and machinery in a centrally organized workplace. Water-powered mills encouraged production to gather at dependable sources of mechanical power.
Undershot water wheel: A water wheel driven by a stream acting against paddles near the wheel’s bottom. It extracts energy mainly from the moving current rather than a high drop.
Water head: The vertical distance between water levels that determines the pressure available to drive a hydraulic machine. A greater head can increase the energy available to a wheel.
Vitruvius: A Roman architect and engineer whose work De architectura describes water-powered machinery. His account preserves an early technical description of a watermill.
Forge hammer: A mechanically powered hammer used to shape metal by repeated blows. Water wheels drove hammers that made heavier forging work practical.
Rural industry: Manufacturing and processing carried out in countryside communities rather than urban centers. Streams and watermills supported dispersed production in rural regions.

Linked from 15 pages