| Block Captain Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Adirondack Park, NY Gender:  Posts: 448 Level up: 92%, 12 Points needed |  |  Rabbit,
You've nailed it.
I'd like to thank you all for the good-natured way you handled this.
I believe the following describes it authoritatively: Quote:
The Niagara project, located about 4 1/2 miles downstream from the Falls, consists of two main facilities: the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant, with 13 turbines, and the Lewiston Pump-Generating Plant, with 12 pump-turbines. In between the two plants is a forebay capable of holding about 740 million gallons of water; behind the Lewiston plant, a 1,900-acre reservoir holds additional supplies of this liquid fuel.
Put very simply, we divert water from the Niagara River—up to 375,000 gallons a second—and convey it through conduits under the City of Niagara Falls to Lewiston. From there, water flowing through the Robert Moses plant spins turbines that power generators, converting this mechanical energy into electrical energy.
At night, when electricity demand is low, the Lewiston units operate as pumps, transporting water from the forebay up to the plant's reservoir.
During the daytime, when electricity use peaks, the Lewiston pumps are reversed and become generators, similar to those at the Moses plant. In this way, the water can be used to produce electricity twice, increasing production and efficiency.
To balance the need for power with a desire to preserve the beauty of Niagara Falls, the United States and Canada signed a treaty in 1950 that regulates the amount of water diverted for hydroelectricity production. On average, more than 200,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), or 1.5 million gallons of water a second, flow from Lake Erie into the Niagara River. The 1950 pact requires that at least 100,000 cfs of water spill over the Falls during the daylight hours in the tourist season, April through October. This flow may be cut in half at night during this period and at all times the rest of the year.
NYPA Facilities:* Niagara Power Project | So how did I get us all into this mess in the first place?
Here's the text of a PM I shared with our Mod. Tad: Quote:
Tad,
You're doing just fine.
I just wanted to thank you for playing along w/
http://www.defendingthetruth.com/con...off-night.html (: They shut Niagara Falls off at night.)
Just so you know:
Last weekend I met up with some childhood friends that I hadn't seen in a decade or two.
They were driving from ~Michigan to Southern New York State. They stopped to overnight at Niagara Falls. Before they got there, I warned them:
When I went there several years ago, I got a hotel room in Canada. It had an outdoor balcony overlooking the falls.
I thought it would be nice to sit out there at 2:AM, and enjoy the water thundering over the precipice.
Much to my astonishment, I found they shut the water flow down to a veritable trickle, late at night / early morning. Evidently they divert the flow to run it through hydro-electric turbines.
When I warned my childhood friend of this, she acted as though I was joking. (nobody can shut off a river!)
I figured they'd discover the truth the same way I did.
But for whatever reason, (perhaps they went to sleep before the flow was diverted) they did not witness the diminished water flow.
So true to my slothful nature, rather than Googling for Internet proof directly, I thought it might be fun (and informative) to share with others this discovery of mine.
My intention was / is, after I / we snare a few more with this "conspiracy" thread, I'll declare my position, and leave it to the others to sort out.
But just so you know, the reason I know for a fact the water flow over Niagara Falls can diminish substantially between the hours of ~11:PM to ~5:AM is because I have witnessed it.
I know for a fact it is true.
Let's see what the others come up with first.
And again Tad, thanks for playing along.
sear
cc public post
| Thanks again all. I hope you enjoyed my silly prank as much as I did. "Work is the curse of the drinking classes." Oscar Wilde |