Garfield Water Wheel

The Garfield Water Wheel, also known as the Forrest Creek Mine Water Wheel, was a remarkable technological innovation used at a gold mine near Chewton, Victoria, Australia.

It was a superior, eco-friendly technology that played a critical role in running a stamper battery at the gold mine from 1887 to 1903. The water wheel was eventually dismantled in 1904, but remnants of its structure can still be found at the site today.

Initially, the mines in the area relied on steam engines to power their mills due to a lack of water. This allowed for the construction and operation of at least seven water wheels in the Castlemaine-Chewton area. The Garfield water wheel was one of these, constructed in 1887, operated successfully until 1903, and dismantled in 1904.

The Garfield water wheel operated by flowing water through an elevated flume and onto the wheel. The flume, measuring 786 feet long and 15 inches wide by 10 inches deep, was mounted on a timber trestle structure and connected to a branch race of the water supply. The flow to the wheel was controlled by a specially-designed arrangement of levers. The backshot water wheel itself was 72 feet in diameter and 2 feet 1 inch wide, with wooden spokes and an iron band structure. It had 220 galvanized iron buckets and could generate 27 horsepower at a flow rate of roughly 6,000 liters per minute. The wheel transferred its power via an iron gear wheel, which powered the stamper battery.

Today, remnants of the