Section
SANDY, OREGON THURSDAY. MARCH 5 1981
The Sandy Post
Area News
People
Home & Garden
Features
Local resident puts water to
work creating cheap power
The water wheel
.he ll..rKer proper., h „ reduced electric hill, to .
b> K W E BARTON BAKKE
Pont Correspondent
< al Horger, who lives near Dover in a
l” dge like home on Deep Creek, has pul
the creek s water to work providing
power for his large home.
Many Oregon residents are ex
perimenting with wind and water
generating plants, but for a majority,
generators have turned out to lx* expen
sive toys
The Horgers' water wheel, however,
produces eight cents worth of electrici
ty an hour around the clock and has
reduced their electrical bills to a few
dollars per month in the three months it
has been operational.
Horger and his wife, Elizabeth, have
lived on the banks of Deep Creek since
1962 One of their first projects after
moving m was to investigate the
feasibility of generating water power.
“ Everywhere I asked. I was told
there was no information available on
water wheels’,” Horger said He finally
began searching through the hydraulic
section of Multnomah County’s main
library and there found his first and on
ly lead
Corger discovered not a book on
water power but a picture of a 16-foot
water wheel He persuaded library of
ficials to let him take the print off the
premises, where he had it photocopied
An engineer friend of Horger's scaled
the dimensions of the drawing from 16
fee, down to 12 feet, the size needed for
the water flow available at Horger's
site
A Portland metal fabrication com
pany built tin* wheel of steel, and it was
hauled up Firwood Road to theCorger's
place, where it rested in front of the
double garage, awaiting assembly
A flume had to lx* built, and a con
crete base for the water wheel “ For
the total package to be functional, it
took 15 years," Horger said
His investment in the plant, which
generates two kilowatts, totals approx
imately $13,(Mio, “ not counting building
the dam or any of the labor or the head
w ork," he said
Because technology has advanced, a
plant of sim ilar capacity could now pro
bably be installed for around $6,000,
Horger estimated
dollar,.
One of the puzzles which slowed
H orger was locating a suitable
generator to use with his water wheel
Trial and error taught him that the
generator had to operate at very low
speeds
A neighbor referred him to Mark lan
dgren, of the Portland firm Wind Power
Systems, on the possibility that a wind
generator might be adaptable to the
water system
The hunch proved out, and Horger
purchased a generator made by an
Aberdeen, South Dakota firm which has
since gone out of business
The project was “ strictly experimen
tai all the way," said Horger's wife
Elizabeth She gestured toward Scott
Silva, Lindgren’s partner at Wind
Power Systems. “ If they hadn't come
along with their wind generator, we’d
still be playing around with this thing
Silva and Lindgren havesinced form
ed a subsidiary, Northwest Water
Power Systems. They serve as con
sultants to homeowners investigating
the feasibility of wind and watei power
generation at their home sites
The men also sell literature on alter
native energy, and act as distributors
for equipment needed to generate
power on a small scale
Silva pointed out that water power at
present is much more cost effective and
has an earlier pay back than wind
power plants, since water usually flows
around the clock, while wind blows in
termittently
He also said a larger generating plant
is a better investment and pays for
itself sooner than a small one such as
the Horgers installed
But the retired couple doesn’t com
plain too loudly about the water wheel
Since it became o perational in
November, their electric bills have
ranged from $3 50 to $y per month, in
cluding the $3 minimum charged all
customers by Portland General Elec
tric Co
Power companies presently buy back
the power produced by wind and water
generators at current retail rates.
Silva pointed out that c e rta in
preliminary steps should be taken by
homeow ners interested in water power,
including measuring the flow of
available water and determining,
through state agencies, where owner
ship of water rights lies
( al Horger looks over his money-saving waterway
Despite language barrier
Student enjoys Paraguay trip
by M A Itk F LO Y D
Last year Claudia Richards had to
learn to speak Spanish in a hurry
this year she is trying to relearn
English in a hurry
The 18-year old Sandy High senior
spent the ye ar in Asuncion,
Paraguay as par, of the American
Field Services i AFS, exchange stu
dent program When she left las,
February, Richards knew practical
ly no Spanish a t. all When she
r< turned two weeks ago, however
she found herself thinking and
speaking Spanish and having some
trouble with English
To compound the problem, two
languages are spoken in Paraguay.
Spanish and Guarani, an Indian
dialect
“ I had to learn them from
scratch, she admitted
I finally
started to understand Spanish and
people would speak Guarani when
they didn , wan, me to know wha,
they were talking about
I, took me about four months to
pick up Spanish to where I could
manage fairly well, then I jus, go,
better from there." she added. “ I've
only been home two weeks and l m
ready to go back It seems strange,
it 's like being in a new world again "
Richards had no special tutors in
Paraguay and, since she had to
learn the language from scratch, she
fell behind a bit in her studies
You had to learn fast and pick up
what you could," she said “ They're
very serious about school and they
don', stop You're expected to keep
up and if you don t catch on, you
have to ask a classmate There are
no sports or anything You go to
school to learn, period.”
Classes were similar to those at
Sandy with chemistry, philosophy,
english and math standard subjects
Students attended school from 7
•i m to noon, then wen, home tor the
big meal of the day in the afternoon
The big meal was followed by a
siesta, when all the shops closed un
til about 3 p m or so, then reopened
Life a, night and on weekends was
also exciting
There wen* dances, movies and
lots of nigh, e n te rta in m e n t,"
Richards said "W ed go ou, and
have a few beers The drinking age
there was as soon as you could reach
to the counter
I be guys in Paraguay were a Io,
different, she added “ They seem
ed to be more friendly, more ex
,rover,ed They d meet you one day
and wan, to go ou, the next "
Richards also found the food dif
feren, and welcomed the change
Natural foods were encouraged and
there was very little junk food. “ In
stead of having candy bars, you
have a fruit salad." she said
R ich a rd s
stayed
w ith
a
Paraguayan fam ily during her year.
Miguel and Nylda Rodriguez and
their two sons, Leo, 23, and Dam, 19
I heir home was in Asuncion, the
capital of the country with a popula
tion of more than one million people
I he country was very traditional
and so was my fam ily,” Richards
said “ (¡iris can't go ou, alone, they
always have to go with someone in
the family We eventually found
ways to ge, around that, though My
family was understanding, they'd
had AFS students before
We had three maids,” she added
‘One would cook, one would clean
and one would wash clothes Bu,
even with three maids, there was a
Io, of work for my cousin • Leila, age
four, and I There was always scads
of stuff to do "
The Rodriguez family was fairly
well to-do, according to Richards,
who added that there is a class
system in Paraguay Most families
are either rich or poor, no, middle
class
I hiring her stay, the Sandy student
visited a ranch in the jungle area of
Paraguay and made a trip to Brazil,
the larges, country in S
South
America She enjoyed the trave I, but
detested the inse cts and
mosquitos' of South America
Richards enjoyed the Paraguay
experience hu, admitted that it was
Sandy High senior Claudia Richards
at home after a year in
Paraguay. Richards enjoyed her
stay and her new family (fa r rig h t,,
parents Miguel and Nvlda and her
brothers Leo. 23. with the hat, and
Dani. I». Also Using in her house was
cousin Leila, age four (rig h t,.
I .
costly she and her parents, Vern
, V1I1
and Melba Richards, had to come up
with $2.(MH, for the year and she is
having to make up a lot of credits at
St IIS. R ic h a rd s ' c la ssm a te s
graduated las, year and she will be
19 when she dons the cap and gown
this June.
But the experience was worth the
sacrifices, she said
"I'v e had no trouble with my fam i
ly or anything since coming back,
but I, Will take some tune to adjust
back to school,“ she admitted "M y
first impulse is to speak Spanish and
I even think in Spanish Bu, it ’s star
ting to go away
"M y parents noticed that the ex
perience changed me and I m glad
to have had the Opportunity,” she
added “ I d like to go back I really
liked my family there and after a
year, you ge, really attached "