Hussein never even finished high school but his hobby involves reading scientific texts. Hussein lost both his legs in 1991 when US planes were bombing northern Iraq during the first Gulf war. “But my disability has never stopped me from dreaming,” Hussein tells NIQASH. “And I’ve succeeded in this project with a little help from my friends.”
One of those friends is another local man, engineer Abdul-Ghafour Bahjat, who helped find all the necessary parts for the home made water pressure engine.
“The engine is seven meters long, four meters wide and about 2.5 meters high,” Bahjat explains.
The water generator is designed to float on the surface of the river and is kept anchored in place by two large concrete walls with heavy ropes attached.
“With the power this engine supplies, the people of the village can run all their electrical appliances - refrigerators, televisions and the like - because we have modified its speed to 1500 rpm to produce 220 volts of electricity,” explains Hassan al-Harawi, of Dohuk’s department or electricity who helped to build the water generator. “And we designed it like a submarine. Part of it is submerged in the water and the upper half floats so that it can benefit from water currents without sinking.”
The whole project cost around US$20,000 and the generator’s makers say it won’t cost anything other than occasional maintenance costs.
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