posted 9 years ago
There are three numbers that will pretty much determine how much useful electricity your site can provide:
1. How many gallons per minute does your water source provide?
2. How far does the water drop, if at all, in your pond/system?
3. What is the overall efficiency of your water wheel, transmission and generator, as a system?
If the water leaves your pond as a stream, I can tell you how to measure the flow rate.
If the water drops, that distance means a lot in terms of how much energy you can get. That's called head, and it's just how far the water falls from point A, to point B. Not too hard to measure. Does it fall 6" or 20'?
If you tell us what kind of water wheel, and generator, we can make a good guess as the the overall efficiency.
Bonus points for pictures...