Implementation of Small Hydro Power Plants in

Water Facilities
Martin Kral, Radomir Gono, Miroslava Gono
Department of Electrical Power Engineering
VSB - Technical University of Ostrava
Ostrava, Czech Republic
martin.kral.st3@vsb.cz, radomir.gono@vsb.cz, miroslava.gono@vsb.cz

Abstract—This paper deals with the issue of the location of the turbine into the chamber is well aerated and after
small hydro power plants in the water supply systems. Here are distribution throughout the water that is discharged through the
the possible positions of location the SHPPs in the water supply turbine into the chamber is well aerated and after distribution
system. An important part of the water supply system problems throughout the tank space contributes to better mixing of the
are the resulting losses due to faults in the water lines, which are dosed reagents with the treated water [1], [4-6].
also caused by excessive pressure in the water supply system. To
help with selecting a turbine for SHPP, an application was II. SELECTION OF APPROPRIATE LOCATION FOR SHPP
created. The application results are compared to the real ones.
Many control and regulation elements are used in water
Keywords—small hydro power plant; water facilities; control supply systems and water lines are divided into many pressure
valve bands. In most water mains, it is necessary to additionally
control the pressure, or if necessary flow rate in order to reduce
I. INTRODUCTION the hydrostatic pressure (or flow) in the pipeline within the
Hydro power plants are relatively stable in terms of power required limits, this pressure control (flow) is performed
supply over time. The flow does not change in the order of tens without utilization of excess water energy.
per second and can be estimated in advance in a sufficiently The function of the control valves can be represented by the
precise manner. Partially, retention of water can be utilized, SHPPs, which are able to convert the water energy into
which can then be used to regulate the electrical system at electricity, usable in the area for the self consumption of
intermediate and peak power consumption. The problem of demanding technological units. SHPPs in water supply systems
further development of hydro power plants is the fact that most have also other benefits. The need is for maximum utilization
suitable and economically efficient sites have already been of the production capacity of the proposed SHPP without
occupied. That is why it is a challenge to find new limiting the production activity of the water technology.
technological solutions that would allow building for so far
unoccupied sites. In addition to the installation of hydro power An example of possible positioning of the control valves is
plants into watercourses, it is possible to use the hydro- shown in Fig. 1.
energetic potential of the supply water - raw and drinking water
from the water treatment plants or water reservoirs and other
water facilities capacity (in the use of reducing valves,
Industrial Water Treatment, etc.). Under the water cycle in
water companies we understand all the basic activities related
to the operation of public water supply and sewerage systems.
Water Facilities belong to the energy-intensive facilities.
The installation of the SHPP will change its operation to self-
sufficient energy and in many cases allow surplus energy to be
sold to the public power grid. When installing SHPP in
drinking water supply systems, there is no need for long-term
interruption of water supply for the population, nor can it be
contaminated. The economic return of such projects is
calculated in the order of two to five years. The SHPP installed
on a penstock of the water treatment plant helps to optimize the
entire process of treating raw water to drinking water since the Fig. 1. Examples of possible placement of control valves [2].
water that is discharged through PS – pumping station, WR – water reservoir, WT – water treatment, 1 –
control valve of flow, 2 – control valve to maintain the water level in the
This research was partially supported by the SGS grant from VSB -
Technical University of Ostrava (No. SP2019/20) and by the project water reservoir, 3 – control valve of pressure
TUCENET (No. LO1404).

978-1-7281-1334-0/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE

 The basic requirements for control valves can be defined:
• Pressure control,
• Flow control,
• Water level control.
An example of use of control valves in point 1 in Fig. 1:
Basic regulation of flow rates at higher differential
gradients based on the principle of linear throttling. Elimination
of starting pressure peaks without vibration, unacceptable noise
limits or damage to the piping system due to cavitation erosion.
An example of the use of control valves in point 2 in Fig. 1:
When filling water reservoirs through pressure pipelines
from pumping stations or via gravity feeders, it is necessary to
ensure that the energy of water and control the flow directly to
the required water level according to current consumption. This
is done by sensing the height or pressure of the water column
with the signalling to the actuator of a suitable control valve.
An example of the use of control valves in point 3 in Fig. 1:
Each of the two settlements is at different altitude relative
to the pumping station. Therefore, it is necessary to set
different pressure zones on individual feeders using the control
valves.
The values of the pressure levels can be set as follows:
• fixed constant pressure setting over 24 hours,
• two-stage pressure setting - day mode, - night mode,
• Flexible modulating pressure control in relation to the
daily collection time (PID) [2].
Design of SHPP location in the water supply system:
In the previous section II., the possibility of placing the
SHPP in place of the control valves is indicated, due to the
unnecessarily thwart energy of the water in the control valves.
Each such valve consumes energy, and we can use SHPP to
produce energy. It is not necessary to change batteries so often,
which brings operational and economic benefits. The most
environmentally friendly is not energy from renewable or
alternative sources, but the energy that we did not have to
consume. However, there are other possibilities of placing
SHPP in water supply systems. It is not always necessary to
regulate the pressure (flow) level to the desired value at places
where the SHPP can be placed. An example of this location is
in Fig. 2. As can be seen from the picture in the water supply
system there are many suitable places where the SHPP can be
placed. The demonstrations shown are not just locations that
are suitable for downstream or flow rates in the waterline. But
some locations also have other positive effects on water supply
systems, such as at point 2, the SHPP has a positive effect on
the mixing of additives added to water for hygienic reasons. At
the other points: 1, 3, 4 and 5, high water level values are use.
Fig. 2. Possible placement of SHPP in the water supply system.
III. CONTROLLED SHPPS FOR REDUCE LOSSES IN WATER LINE
Leaks in water distribution networks are the most common
causes of water losses, which can reach up to 50 % compared
to the amount of water produced by water facilities.
Investments spent on overcoming these problems tend to focus
on intentions that aim only at further increasing water
production, instead of supporting programs to reduce water
losses.
The basic aspect to change this way of thinking to more
economic and also ecological is the introduction into the
operational practice of such technical applications based on the
principle of controlled pressure (flow) regulation.
An extremely efficient method can be achieved by using a
combination of functions of control valves with modulation
actuators with PID control. In this sense, the SHPPs can also
operate in the water supply system, where it is possible to
control the energy consumption of water moving. This can be
done by, for example the following SHPP equipment features:
• use of a synchronous generator,
• use of asynchronous generator with Squirrel-cage rotor,
• use of a turbine where rotor blades can be rotated.
This issue is described in cases using control valves, which
can be replaced by placing the SHPP into the water supply
system at the positions of the mentioned control valves.
While the production capacity of water is increasing, the
structure of water line systems, originally designed for much
smaller quantities remains the same resulting is increases in
pressures.
In particular, commonly fitted valves, which must regulate
flow rates and pressures to maintain a constant supply of
drinking water, can not perform their function in an appropriate
manner.
If these valves can not be controlled sufficiently flexibly,
large pressure differences occur in water line systems, resulting
in enormous water losses due to leakages on the water system
and cracking of the pipes, eventually collapsing the entire
water line system.
When dealing with these conditions, control valves are used
to control pressure and flow.
Frequent fluctuations pressures in water lines from large
water consumption during day and night, depending on the
weekly cycle or alternation of seasonal periods are the causes
of enormous losses of water in the lines and pipe cracking.
 To limit such operating and fault conditions, it is necessary
to ensure that pressures in the water supply system are kept at
the lowest possible level to ensure that water supplies are
maintained in accordance with current requirements.
In Fig. 3 shows the percentage distribution of leakage
losses in water supply systems.
the input data of the water head and flow of the water for which
we want to recommend the turbine, a recommendation is
indicated with a circle with a red yellow fill and a description
of the inserted data. The advantage of this view is in the
graphical display, there is not one type of turbine strictly
displayed, but the person using this application can choose a
suitable turbine according to their preferences.

Fig. 3. Leaks in the water supply systems [3].

Invisible leaks with small range isn't possible to monitor

with acoustic method. These leaks are 25 % of total losses.
Invisible leaks with larger range is possible to monitor with
acoustic method. These leaks are 30 % of total losses.
Visible leaks is possible to monitoring with lot of
monitoring method. These leaks are 45 % of total losses.
IV. AUXILIARY APPLICATION FOR THE SELECTION OF A
SUITABLE TURBINE SHPP
This application is created in Microsoft Office Excel. Part
of the application is not just showing the appropriate type of
turbine for the SHPP, but also showing the group of SHPP. In
Fig. 4 is shown the cover page of the auxiliary application. You
can see a basic description of the features.
Fig. 5. Display of recommended SHPP turbine auxiliary application.
In order to illustrate the appropriate SHPP turbine, it is
indispensable to enter the parameters of the water flow and
For example after entering the input data with the flow Q =
water head.
2 / and the specific energy of water Y = 300 / . In this
case, the Francis turbine is the ideal choice.
To perform a real-time application functionality check:
We applied the test to real-time data for the SHPPs, and
compared the results with the data in the database:
http://mve.energetika.cz/uvodp/vod-dila.htm. We did the test
for hundreds of cases. For example, Table 1 shows a small
sample of the comparison results. It is clear that the results do
not always coincide with the real situation, these
inconsistencies are similar, and we can always observe a
discrepancy when selecting one of the two turbines: Kaplan -
Francis and Banki - Pelton. The real state tends to the first of
them, Kaplan and Banki. This discrepancy is possible to
explain by the investment demands and complexity of turbine
production.

Fig. 4. Entry page with the auxiliary application inputs.

In Fig. 5 is then shown a Y / Q diagram with working areas
of the basic types of water turbines, the data in the diagram are
based on the information in the publication [4]. According to
Turbine selection depends primarily on location and flow. It is
dependent on the topographical conditions and flow again is
associated with the population size and corresponding demand
water. In the literature, we can find some research on
estimating the potential of hydroelectric power plants in wastewater systems [8].

TABLE I. A SAMPLE OF SHPPS COMPARED WITH AN AUXILIARY APPLICATION

River Address Flow [ ∙ Energy of Installed Recommended type of Power of Efficiency [%]
] water [ ∙ turbine turbine SHPP
] [ ]
Žibřidovický Pusté
1,25 106,4 Francis Francis 93,68 70
potok Žibřidovice 71
Oslava u Hor.Dlouhá
0,4 39,2 Kaplan Kaplan 11,84 76
Sovince Loučka 11
Německý
Odra 1,6 39,2 Kaplan Kaplan 51,80 82
Jeseník 116
Velička Hranice n.Mor. 0,29 51,5 Francis Kaplan 11,54 77
Morava Potůčník 0,04 39,2 Pelton Banki 1,18 75
Morava Kopřivná 50 0,05 98,1 Pelton Banki 3,59 73
Třebůvka Loštice 78 1,5 26,5 Francis Kaplan 31,08 78
místní přítok
Rudoltovice 82 0,12 39,2 Pelton Banki 3,55 75
Odry
Desná Rejhotice 48/52 1,35 60,8 Kaplan Kaplan 66,60 81
Hustopeče nad
Bečva 0,9 31,4 Francis Kaplan 20,72 73
Bečvou 117

V. CONCLUSION Putting small scale hydropower stations into operation

At the beginning there are mentioned the advantages of
using hydro power plants. But the new installation of hydro
power plants is not easy at the present time. Hydroelectric
potential can also be found in water supply and sewerage
networks, irrigation and cooling systems and many other
artificial water systems. There is also described an
innovative way of placing small hydro power plants in water
supply facilities in the introduction.
In the second chapter there are described the basic
methods of regulation of pressure, water flow and level of
water in water supply systems, and also the possible
placement of SHPPs in the water supply system.
Other chapter deals with the severity of water leaks from
the water supply systems and the solution of these situations
using the control valves and the SHPPs.
The final part describes the auxiliary application for the
selection of a suitable turbine, the calculation of the power
and efficiency of the SHPP. To illustrate how the application
works, this chapter also shows a comparison of the installed
turbines in existing SHPPs and recommended types of
turbines for these places.
We miss data about the size of this potential. Estimates
made in countries where power plants that use water from
existing artificial networks to produce energy are much more
widespread, indicate that this is a potential undervalued. For
example, there are around 100 power plants in Switzerland
using water and sewage networks for energy production,
which produce more than 83 GWh of electricity annually.
The number of power plants that could be built in such
networks is five times higher. Together with existing ones,
they could produce nearly 310 GWh of energy annually [7].
will be increasingly advantageous, as they can exploit the
hydraulic potential of the given region. They represent a
permanent source of propulsion which belongs to what we
call “clean“, renewable energy sources. Their operation takes
only minimum electricity necessary for the service of the
facility and does not pollute the environment. In contrast to
photovoltaic or wind power stations, the amount of
electricity produced by them does not fluctuate with the
change of day into the night or immediate weather changes.
It is possible to plan supplies better and then power network
is not overloaded.
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