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Portlands New Pipes Harvest Power From Drinking Water

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by alecope88 | Jan 28, 2015 | Positive News | 155 Comments

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Fact Coexist
If you live in Portland, your lights may now be partly powered by your drinking water. An ingenious new system captures
energy as water flows through the citys pipes, creating hydropower without the negative environmental effects of something
like a dam.
Small turbines in the pipes spin in the flowing water, and send that energy into a generator.
Its pretty rare to find a new source of energy where theres no environmental impact, says Gregg Semler, CEO of Lucid
Energy, the Portland-based startup that designed the new system. But this is inside a pipe, so no fish or endangered species
are impacted. Thats whats exciting.
For water utilities, which use massive amounts of electricity, the system can make it cheaper to provide clean drinking water.
Utilities can either use the power themselves or sell it to a city as a new source of revenue.
We have a project in Riverside, California, where theyre using it to power streetlights at night, Semler says. During the day,
when electricity prices are high, they can use it to offset some of their operating costs.
In Portland, one of the citys main pipelines now uses Lucids pipes to make power thats sent into the grid. Though the system
cant generate enough energy for an entire city, the pipes can power individual buildings like a school or library, or help offset
a citys total energy bill. Unlike wind or solar power, the system can generate electricity at any time of day, regardless of
weather, since the pipes always have water flowing through them.
The pipes cant generate power in every location; they only work in places where water is naturally flowing downward with
gravity (if water is being pumped, the system would waste energy). But they have another feature that can be used anywhere:
The pipes have sensors that can monitor water, something that utilities couldnt do in the past.
We made electrical infrastructure really smart over the last 20 to 25 years, but the same hasnt happened in water, Semler

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there are onboard information systems that water agencies can get to more precisely manage their infrastructure.
Sensors in the pipe can also monitor water quality, making sure its safe to drink.

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The company hopes to work with cities to install new systems as old pipes wear out. Theyre also hoping to expand to the
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developing world. Its a great source of remote power, says Semler. So in places outside the city that dont have an electrical
grid, youre able to use the system to generate energy.
The biggest potential for the new system may be in places like California, where 20% of total energy use goes into the water

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supplyand even more electricity will be used as cities start to install desalination plants. With the pipes, utilities can
generate some of their own much-needed power.
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Theres a lot of energy in going into making sure we have safe clean drinking water, Semler says. Our focus is really on
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helping water become more sustainable.

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2 hours ago

Guys we would like to invest to expand your business

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Rob

4 hours ago

I think the opportunity is great for Gravity fed systems, however you are basically creating a hydroelectric
damn out of the supply system. What didn't make sense was the comment about using the power for
desalinating situation. Those scenarios city's would be pumping from sea level and processing. So there isn't
any kinetic energy available.
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&
Jay McGhee

7 hours ago

So.. like now we won't run out of wind because of all of those wind powered generators using it all up right?
Reply Share

Mahhn > Jay McGhee

2 hours ago

You would have to stop the earth from rotating to stop the wind, not going to happen.
Reply Share

fdsfkdsfidsifidsii > Mahhn

11 minutes ago

Wind happens because of heating and cooling, not the rotation of the Earth. The Coriolis eect
only changes the direction of the wind.
Reply Share

Jay McGhee > Mahhn

11 minutes ago

Build enough of those wind generators and you'll stop the earth!
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fdsfkdsfidsifidsii > Jay McGhee

14 minutes ago

Please tell me you're joking. I assume you are, but some people really are that stupid.
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Gregory Diana

12 hours ago

In many bulk water supply systems water is fed from reservours via gravity and in many instances the water
flow is regulated by wasteful regulating valves. Even in some pump based systems such wasteful regulator
valves are used (similar to wasteful dampers in airconditioning systems). In such instances the energy
wasteful valves may be replaced by systems such as that being proposed in which the energy used to
regulate the flow and pressure is recovered. This concept is not new and is being used elsewhere around the
globe. It is about good engineering, context and appropriate use and based on some commentry appears
somewhat vague in this regard.
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Tim

16 hours ago

This is a joke right? There is not such thing as free energy. If energy is being removed from the water in the
pipe, it must be added to the water somewhere else.
It is like an electric car. It doesn't eliminate emissions. It just moves them to the power plant.
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Innovating is joke > Tim

2 hours ago

Thanks for the heads up Tim. I thought that this was a great solution (that has actually been
implemented for a few years now) because in water supply there is a lot of energy consumed (in
pumping), that yes, it is added to the network in some place, but wasted through valves in some other
places to reduce the pressure (put turbines instead of valves? what a joke.... Or is an even better
option when there is a water reservoir (natural or otherwise) at a higher altitude that the location that is
being supplied.
But thanks to the knowledgeable input from an hydraulic engineer (you are an engineer right?) writing
in the comments section, now I know that there are no good solutions anywhere, so I might as well
type in the comments section instead of working on innovative ways to improve my surrounding.
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Mahhn > Tim

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