Eden Mill Nature Center   1617 Eden Mill Road    Pylesville, MD 21132     410-836-3050   edenmillnaturecenter@gmail.com

Micro Hydro at Eden Mill

Eden Mill Nature Center

& Historic Grist Mill Museum

Eden Mill to restore the mill’s hydroelectric capabilities.

  From 1921 until 1927 Eden Mill provided electricity for Fawn Grove and New Park, PA.  Some of the power generating equipment is still present in the back room of the mill, and the structure is still set up to support a small generating system.  This type of small-scale hydroelectric system is called a micro hydro system.  Micro hydro systems convert the energy that is in flowing water into electricity: some of the water above the dam will be diverted to a turbine housed below the back room of the mill.  The turbine will then spin a generator and electricity will be produced.  After passing through the turbine, the water will exit the mill along a tailrace and will return to Deer Creek below the dam.   

In September we discovered that the wooden gates that were preventing water above the dam from entering the turbine room and tailrace were bowed and leaking.  The county council unanimously approved emergency funding to immediately replace the gates, which would protect the historic building from damage should the existing gates give way.  Fortunately, the Eden Mill Nature Center Committee already had an engineering plan for a micro hydro system, as this is a project we had been working toward for a number of years.  The county agreed to replace the wooden, leaking, gates with steel gates specially designed to support the planned micro hydro system, as this cooperation would result in the most efficient use of funds and the least amount of disturbance to the creek habitat in the vicinity of the dam and millhouse.

The project has gotten off to a terrific start; the county began and completed their work all in the month of October!  A coffer, or temporary, dam was constructed to keep water away from the mill house.  The accumulated sediment above and below the mill house were dredged to allow access to the gates and to clear the tailrace.  The old gates were removed and new gates specially designed for this project were built and installed. 

Now that the old gates have been replaced and the structure is stable, Eden Mill Nature Center is responsible for the remainder of the micro hydro project.  This includes the purchase and installation of a turbine, generator, controls, and the development of an educational program.  Micro hydro systems are common in some parts of the world, but there are very few of them in the mid Atlantic region.  Providing educational opportunities to the public is one of the primary objectives of the nature center, and with this project our goals are no different.  The nature center is in the process of identifying the best way to incorporate education tools into the system, and we are looking for funding to finish the project.  Suggestions are always welcome and may be offered by contacting the mill.

By:  Savannah Livingston

HOW DOES

A

MICRO HYDRO SYSTEM WORK?

.Diagram of existing

Hydro Electric System

used at Eden Mill from

1917 until 1964

To stop photo scrolling

place curser over

picture

Graphic retrieved from YouTube