:: Specific Design Brief

CAT 2: Moving Water - further information

PRODUCT DESIGN UK - ISSUES & RESOURCES

Issues
What do people want from a water feature?
• In a large deep pond there is sometimes a need to aerate it, to get oxygen into the water or to agitate the water to deal with pollution. In a small garden pond that is not usually a problem, except perhaps in the winter.
• For some it is aesthetic. They like the look or sound of moving water.
What form of effect would be appropriate - fountain, flow, waterfall, other?
How much water needs to be moved and when - all the time, randomly, on demand when people want to see or hear it?
What are the options for an energy source:
manual,
electricity from the mains,
windpower directly moving a mechanism
windpower generating electricity to run a pump
solar power generating electricity to run a pump
water power
Consider what each source needs to work (e.g. not a very sheltered spot for windpower)
Where is the water going to come from (mains, rain, the pond itself?)

Resources
Books
3 books on the history of pumping and wind and water power:
Wells and pumps - John Vince, Sorbus – describes how the water pump evolved (£2.95)*
Windmills and how they work (John Vince) (£2.95)*
Wind and Water Power – Martin Watts (£7.99)*
Energy post 16 (TEP) - Designing a solarimeter, anemometer and wind turbine, written for A-level*
Pupil’s Guide to Windpower - CAT (£3)*
Pupil’s Guide to Solar Power - CAT (£3)*
Teacher’s Guide to Solar Electricity Projects – CAT (£4)*
An introduction to Photovoltaic Power Factsheet – CAT (£3)*
CAT Tipsheets –
Solar Fountain (50p)*
Hydraulic Ram (50p)*
CAT Resource Guides (lists of organisations, equipment suppliers and publications) –
Water Supply, Treatment & Sanitation (£3)*
Components of Renewable Energy Electricity Systems (£2)*
Wind Power (£3)*
Solar Electricity (£3)*
Photovoltaics in the UK: An introductory guide for new consumers – Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford (£6)*
Water Pumping Devices – Peter Fraenkel, ITDG (£19.95)
Windpumps: a Guide for Development Workers – Barlow et al, ITDG (£14.95)
A Manual on the Hydraulic Ram for Pumping Water – Simon Watt ITDG (£7.95)
Six Simple Pumps – VITA*
Building a Domestic Windpump – Jim Barr (£5.99)
* available from CAT mail order www.cat.org.uk 01654 705959

www.bwea.com The British Wind Energy Association
www.itdgpublishing.org.uk
www.cat.org.uk
www.windpumps.co.uk
www.itpower.co.uk
www.marlec.co.uk
www.vergnet.fr
www.intersolar.com
www.bp.com/bpsolar
www.oceanarks.org

Examples of manual, wind and solar pumps and a hydraulic ram can be seen in use at the Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, Powys SY20 9AZ
www.cat.org.uk

FURTHER INFORMATION
KEY QUESTIONS
ISSUES & RESOURCES