Hydroelectric Potential

Hey Thank You Very Much! Any information is helpful. I appreciate your fast post.

In short, (head in feet X gpm)/ 10 = output in watts. You have 12 cfs = 5386 gpm. This is a real high volume for most pipe sizes. Are you looking at a commercial or residential hydro? A 4" pipe will allow 200 gpm with minimal friction,a 6" 400 gpm, etc....

I install micro-hydro for a living and give you a good idea depending on scale.

This would be commercial. I am trying to maximize the site's potential.

Hi Chris: I participated in a project which was almost the same as yours. Due to the high volume of water we decided to build an open concrete channel from the intake point across the countryside with about a 1.5% slope to a point above the power house where we built a second input point we called "the swimming pool" and from the bottom of this pool we came down the hillside in a 20" PVC pipe to the generator room which had a 50KW generator from CANYON hydro plus 2 Thomas and Howe governors running into a ballast tank. The system was designed for 50KW but we only got 42KW at best times and 30KW average due to stream drying up periods. The biggest difficulty in the system was with the intakes. It's tricky to build a good intake which will only take water but stop all debris from reaching the turbine.