Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 261, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 November 1911 — POWER FROM RAINFALL [ARTICLE]

POWER FROM RAINFALL

WATER OF MONSOON SEASONS WILL BE UTILIZED. sindian Company Plans to Construct . Three Immense Reservoirs and to Develop 40,000 Horsepower of Electric Energy. —— Owing to the irregularity of the amount of water in the rivers of India uninterrupted power from them for industrial purposes cannot be depended - upon. During the monsoon season, from the middle of June to the middle of September, for instance, the average rainfall at Lanoull, on the west ccast, is 175 Inches, although sometimes greatly exceeding that amount During the other nine months there is scarcely any rain. Soon lifter the. opening of the preent century the plan of storing water and using it for industrial purposes was conceived, and after a thorough investigation by engineers, native capital to the amount of |6,486,666 was raised, and on-November 7, 1910, the Tata Hydroelectic Power and Supply company ..was incorporated. , It Is planned to erect three lakes or reservoirs. The Lanouil reservoir, which will store water to be used during the long breaks of rainfall in the monsoon season, will approximate 100 acres, formed by a dam 3,800 feet long and 26 feet high, with a capacity of 380,000 000 cubic feet The Walwhan lake, situated about one and one-half miles from Lanoull, will be formed between two spurs of hills by a dam 4,500 feet long and 68 feet high. The area of the lake will two and one-half square miles, with a capacity of 2,600,000 feet of water. The dam will be of solid masonry, fitted with sluices. Later oh a third reservoir will he constructed beyond Walwhan lake, with which It will be connected by a tunnel nearly a mile long running through the dividing ridges of steep hills, which, will form a watershed 1,200 feet above the level of the valley. This reservoir will have an area of 3,174 acres, or nearly five square miles, with a capacity of 7,000,000 cubic feet of water, which, after traversing a distance of four miles, will he led through masonry ducts from the lakes to a fore bay, 2,040 feet above the sea level. There it will enter pipes six feet In diameter and run down steep slopes and precipices to Khopoli, where the generating station will be located 200 feet above sea level. The head will be 1,730 feet, and the static pressure 680 pounds per square inch. This generating station is 90 miles from Bombay, where the electric ensrgy, estimated at 40,000 horse power, will bemused for manufacturing purposes.