13: The Dynamics of Flow 177
structure of the water is literally demolished and all the dissolved oxygen, and even some of the oxygen in the water molecule itself, is centrifuged out of the water. Viktor Schauberger obtained evidence of this effect and the photographs taken through a microscope in fig. 13.23 show the marked difference in the structure of water that has been subjected to centrifugence on the one hand and centripetence on the other. The fragmented appearance of the centrifugally moved water is unmistakable. Due to the high friction and warming caused by the slicing action of the blades, the oxygen becomes extremely aggressive and highly active. Drawn to the rear side of the blades by the partial vacuum (known as cavitation) created there due to their high rotational velocity, the naked oxygen savagely attacks the bare metal, severely pitting the surface. This damage is greatly aggravated if the percentage of dissolved oxygen is fairly high, with the result that the blades become perforated, making them virtually useless. What emerges as the end-product of this physical and energetic disintegration, while certainly a liquid, is merely the skeleton of what was once healthy water. When this fragmented and largely oxygen-deficient water is finally ejected into the river, it has a disastrous effect on the fish and other aquatic life. It has long been known that certain species of fish disappear once these power stations are commissioned, and other forms of life have great difficulty in surviving below them. In Australia, for example, it was recently reported that the fish in a Tasmanian river appeared to have been poisoned when water was discharged from the Riess Dam by the hydro-electric authority8. There was no evidence of chemical poisoning, but the water produced reactions in the fish, which killed them. These were akin to the 'bends' suffered by divers as a result of the formation of nitrogen bubbles in the blood. Generally speaking, it is only the more inferior species of fish that do manage to exist. Now thoroughly impoverished, the water has to build itself up again completely before it can be of any benefit to the environment. In
order to do so it seeks out renewed supplies of oxygen and other high quality substances wherever it can find them, including living things. The first to fall victim to this onslaught are high quality aquatic organisms in which these high-grade substances are found. Fish are especially prone to attack due to the particularly intimate contact with this 'ravenous' water, as it is drawn in through their very delicate gill systems. Rather than the 'bends' as such, here we are more probably concerned with the 'galloping consumption' mentioned in chapter 10, in which the body's tissues are attacked by oxygenhungry carbones. But fish-life is not the only victim, the soil bordering on the river is also leached of its nutrients as the water searches to recover them for itself. The result: a large drop in soil fertility and productivity. This extraordinarily destructive powergenerating process, however, is totally unnecessary, because there is another way of generating hydro-electric power which does not harm the water. Not only that, but this method, devised by Viktor Schauberger in the early 1920s and eventually patented in 19309, can produce 90% more electricity with a given volume of water, i.e. his invention uses 10% of the volume of water presently used to generate the same amount of power. Using water from a nearby stream Viktor installed this device to light his forest warden's house, which was too remote to be connected to any other source of supply. The design shown in fig. 13.24 is very simple, reflecting his statement that what is natural is silent, simple and cheap. It consists of a brass or bronze nozzle, which is internally rifled in order to create a vortical flow, thereby reducing both pressure and friction as the water is centripetally drawn away from the sides. The water is therefore cooled, densified and energised as it passes through before encountering a double-spiral, or multiple-spiral, shell-like impeller attached to the shaft of a generator (not shown). Though not apparent on the diagram, the windings of these two or more entwined spirals are formed as semi-circular channels facing upwards towards the nozzle. They widen towards the base, and at the