A water turbine converts fast moving water into mechanical energy. Much like other turbines, it is basically a fan blade attached to a shaft. Water pushes on the blades, making the turbine spin.

The earliest method of converting natural energy into useful mechanical energy was the waterwheel. As early as 85 BC, the Greeks were using waterwheels to grind corn. Until the invention of the steam engine in the 18th century, the waterwheel was the primary mechanism for power production.

That's one of the main reasons that many towns were built next to flowing rivers. They were used to grind grain, power sawmills and pumps, drive bellows for furnaces and forges, run hammers for forging steel and spin yarn at textile mills.

During the 19th century, water turbines started to replace waterwheels, however even to this day, there are thousands of waterwheels still in operation.

Let’s take a look at how hydroelectric power is generated with water turbines.