Testing For Hydro Electric Power Possibilities

Remember how last week I was curious about how I could get off grid power without cutting down my trees? Well, here goes my first attempt to find a way to get sustainable power, in the semi dark! Hydro-power! One of my readers here at The Oko Box pointed out that I have many water sources on my property and there may be a possiblity of harnessing the energy from that...so I was really excited when Mr. Tebbe contacted me from the Sundance Power Systems company in Weaverville,NC to discuss possible hydro power options.
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The first step I had to do was to test how many seconds it would take my creek to fill up a bucket. I searched along the creek for a spot to shove a bucket under, but then remembered the creek is already piped into my pond on a decline...
I kept dropping the bucket when it would start to fill, so Bort handed me his Nalgene bottle which has little measuring dealies along the side (32 ounces). It took 2 seconds to fill & overflow a 32 ounce space.
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WATER RATE: 8 seconds to fill 1 Gallon of water
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I also measured the height of the full water drop at that spot, which is approx 3.5 to 4 feet high.
I started some Hydro Electric research as suggested by Mr. Tebbe... and found that this kind of project hits right at the heart of every learning disability I was ever diagnosed with! ha ha.
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First I found a "simple formula" for figuring out if you can house a lil' hydro power :
"A simple formula for approximating electric power production at a hydroelectric plant is: P = ρhrgk, where
P is Power in watts,
ρ is the density of water (~1000 kg/m3),
h is height in meters,
r is flow rate in cubic meters per second,
g is acceleration due to gravity of 9.8 m/s2,
k is a coefficient of efficiency ranging from 0 to 1. Efficiency is often higher (that is, closer to 1) with larger and more modern turbines. "
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The only result/solution for the Luck Cabin's Hydro-ness I mathmatically came up with after examining that formula was this:
LESLIE x ABOVECRAZYTALK = WTF
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This is engineer stuff. (Is reader Lou Cheese out there? I bet you make something of this jibber jabber!!)
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What I wanna know is hydro-electric a possibility for the Luck Cabin (where i use about 30-40$ of electric a month/ or approx. 250KWH per month)
...how much power could my lil' pipe of creek water produce?
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Xoxoxox

Rain Barrels To The Rescue

This is my friend Paul Van Heden. He makes really pretty, cute, fun, fancy artsy rain barrels here in Western North Carolina! Today he came over to drop off two hand picked & painted barrels so i can start collecting rain at my cabin, and most importantly at my mini-barn where JuJu the donkey and my chickens live. I have a small spring coming from underground where the animals stay, and also spring water I fill up in buckets at my cabin and drag down to the barn, sloshing water on my jeans and down into my shoes all along the way. These rain barrels will make watering the animals a hella easier...

And seriously... aren't they cute? Nothing wrong with a ridculously adorable & eco friendly rain barrel!

These have two holes at the top with a net over them, so I have to set up a gutter/down spout to direct the water into the tank... until then it'll be all about getting the right aim in the rain. :)

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"One inch of rain on a 1,000-square-foot roof will yield around 600 gallons of water, the average American uses 100 gallons of water per day." (water conservation)

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We give these water barrels two thumbs, hooves, claws, and paws up!

Xoxoxoxox

Building A Watering Hole

So here's an idea I got today that I am building up and testing out. Right behind my mini-barn built for my (soon to come) donkey and chickens I found a small stream of spring water coming out the ground, moving downward then disappearing under leaves and back underground.
I decided it might make a good watering hole for the animals, since it flows constantly with fresh spring water, so I started digging out some of the built up deep silt and mud....

I then took clay that had been dug from deep underground when me and my uncle were putting in the foundation poles for the barn - I dumped buckets of clay across where the water puddled... then the water started to fill up in significant amounts! I put a slight notch in the middle so the water has a place to finally overflow and continue renewing it's freshness.

I still have a ways to go - I want to add more clay to my mini levee and dig deeper in front of it --->but does anyone have any engineering suggestions on how to improve/enhance my idea of a good natural watering hole for my animals?

XOxoxo