Flowing Water Conversion Systems

Rentricity and the St. Mary’s Area Water Authority (SMAWA) have launched an in‑conduit hydropower project that installs Rentricity’s Flow‑to‑Wire™ turbine‑generator within a gravity‑fed raw water line serving the Thomas J. Gerg Water Treatment Plant in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. The system is designed to operate at approximately 26 psi (under 60 feet of head) and represents one of Rentricity’s lowest‑head deployments; the installation is expected to generate roughly 18 kW of electrical capacity and to offset an estimated five percent of the treatment plant’s current electricity consumption, improving local energy resilience and reducing operational costs.

The project has progressed through regulatory and funding steps typical for conduit hydropower developments, including a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission preliminary determination that the facility qualifies under conduit hydropower provisions, and local grant support to advance installation and commissioning. Rentricity frames the initiative as part of a broader effort to convert existing water infrastructure into distributed clean‑energy assets that can contribute to municipal sustainability goals and help meet rising electricity demand in the region; SMAWA and project partners expect the installation to provide operational savings and a modest, continuous renewable energy supply for the plant’s operations.

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