Noria

A noria (ناعورة, nā‘ūra, plural نواعير nawāʿīr, from ܢܥܘܪܐ, nā‘orā, lit. "growler") is a hydropowered scoop wheel used to lift water into a small aqueduct, either for the purpose of irrigation or to supply water to cities and villages. The English word noria is derived via Spanish noria from Arabic nā‘ūra (ناعورة), which comes from the Arabic verb meaning to "groan" or "grunt", in reference to the sound it made when turning. The term noria is commonly used for devices which use the power of moving water to turn the wheel. For devices powered by animals, the usual term is saqiyah or saqiya. Other types of similar devices are grouped under the name of chain pumps. However, the names of traditional water-raising devices used in the Middle East, India, Spain and other areas are often used loosely and overlappingly, or vary depending on region. Al-Jazari's famous book on mechanical devices, for example, groups the water-driven wheel and several other types of water-lifting devices under the general term saqiya. In Spain, by contrast, the term noria is used for both types of wheels, whether powered by animals or water current. The noria performs the function of moving water from a lower elevation to a higher elevation, using the energy derived from the flow of a river. It consists of a large, narrow undershot water wheel whose rim is made up of a series of containers or compartments which lift water from the river to an aqueduct at the top of the wheel. Its concept is similar to the modern hydraulic ram, which also uses the power of flowing water to pump some of the water out of the river. Unlike the water wheels found in watermills, a noria does not provide mechanical power to any other process. A few historical norias were hybrids, consisting of waterwheels assisted secondarily by animal power. There is at least one known instance where a noria feeds seawater into a saltern. Paddle-driven water-lifting wheels had appeared in ancient Egypt by the 4th century BC.