Watermill

A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses <a href="/facts/Hydropower/Adx1E5ha">hydropower</a>. It is a structure that uses a <a href="/facts/Water_wheel/7xwQDxrP">water wheel</a> or <a href="/facts/Water_turbine/asldvmcG">water turbine</a> to drive a mechanical process such as <a href="/facts/Mill_(grinding)/0PWTxI1c">milling (grinding)</a>, <a href="/facts/Rolling/rfmy2YIl">rolling</a>, or <a href="/facts/Hammer/bct4q0y4">hammering</a>. Such processes are needed in the production of many material goods, including <a href="/facts/Flour/dY1Lx5RQ">flour</a>, <a href="/facts/Lumber/jJfdSlJ6">lumber</a>, <a href="/facts/Paper/FUETwwKV">paper</a>, <a href="/facts/Textile/PJrVeM5S">textiles</a>, and many <a href="/facts/Metal/PT8hNX6R">metal</a> products. These watermills may comprise <a href="/facts/Gristmill/TP4qMmSr">gristmills</a>, <a href="/facts/Sawmill/16NUH5RC">sawmills</a>, <a href="/facts/Paper_mill/n8ht8GtE">paper mills</a>, <a href="/facts/Textile_mill/Idul45Xb">textile mills</a>, <a href="/facts/Hammermill/wwPfoPWd">hammermills</a>, <a href="/facts/Trip_hammer/SEdYDjtJ">trip hammering</a> mills, <a href="/facts/Rolling_mill/FQ6AQVld">rolling mills</a>, and <a href="/facts/Wire_drawing/e8Jx0zMP">wire drawing</a> mills.
One major way to classify watermills is by wheel orientation (vertical or horizontal), one powered by a vertical waterwheel through a <a href="/facts/Gear_train/znASyK8H">gear</a> mechanism, and the other equipped with a horizontal waterwheel without such a mechanism. The former type can be further subdivided, depending on where the water hits the wheel paddles, into undershot, overshot, breastshot and pitchback (backshot or reverse shot) waterwheel mills. Another way to classify water mills is by an essential trait about their location: <a href="/facts/Tide_mill/sbKmafgD">tide mills</a> use the movement of the tide; <a href="/facts/Ship_mill/fPGbIFF1">ship mills</a> are water mills onboard (and constituting) a ship.
Watermills impact the river dynamics of the watercourses where they are installed. During the time watermills operate channels tend to <a href="/facts/Sedimentation/qUgHGvhd">sedimentate</a>, particularly <a href="/facts/Backwater_(river)/aBoYM4VU">backwater</a>. Also in the backwater area, <a href="/facts/Flood/FDQjJeXW">inundation events</a> and sedimentation of adjacent <a href="/facts/Floodplain/EUKqIbj5">floodplains</a> increase. Over time however these effects are cancelled by river banks becoming higher. Where mills have been removed, <a href="/facts/River_incision/eEmWugN1">river incision</a> increases and <a href="/facts/Channel_(geography)/zanMS2Ek">channels</a> deepen.

Watermill open-in-new

Watermill