Water wheels or (Sakia) is one of the oldest methods of irrigation in history and here is some historic info about it .
The water wheel is an ancient device that uses flowing or falling water to create power by means of paddles mounted around a wheel. The force of the water moves the paddles, and the consequent rotation of the wheel is transmitted to machinery via the shaft of the wheel.
The first reference to a water wheel dates back to around 4000 B.C. Vitruvius, an engineer who died in 14 AD, is later credited with creating and using a vertical water wheel during Roman times. They were used for crop irrigation, for grinding grains, and to supply drinking water to villages. In later years, they drove sawmills, pumps, forge bellows, tilt-hammers, trip hammers and to power textile mills. They were probably the first method of creating mechanical energy to replace that of humans and animals.
