1.

Undershot

This is the earliest type of wheel which used the kinetic energy in the flowing water to push the wheel
round and was use for fulling and corn mills. A later version (the Poncelet Wheel) was similar in
construction but used curved blades which made more effective use of the energy in the flowing water.
It does not require a large head of water, so that it can be used in any stream where water is flowing
at a usable speed in sufficient quantity. The civil engineering works required for its installation are
minimal.

2. Overshot

This type is a logical development of the undershot wheel in that it uses the weight of the water to
drive the wheel so that rotation is caused by the pull of gravity on the water contained in the buckets.
However it requires a head of water greater than the wheel diameter in order to feed the water onto
the top of the wheel. It therefore requires considerably greater civil engineering works in its
installation but it repays this cost by extracting more energy from the water available.
 3. Breastshot

This type of wheel was used to extract as much power as possible from a stream which provided a
head of water which was insufficient to power an overshot wheel.
The water was fed in at about axle height and a breast of masonry was constructed to help retain the
water in the wheel as it descended to its lowest point. The extent of civil engineering works required in
its installation depended upon the nature of the site but would normally be rather less than for an
overshot wheel.

4. Pitch back

This type can be considered as a variation on the overshot wheel since the water is fed in at near the
top of the wheel. It is different in that the water is fed in vertically downwards and that it rotates in
the opposite direction to the overshot wheel. It has this direction of rotation in common with the
breastshot wheel and is therefore sometimes referred to as a High breastshot wheel. The civil
engineering works required for its installation are similar to those for an overshot wheel.