Talk:Flume

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Vandalism

Can someone check up on this page to see if it gets vandalised some more? i'm suprised it wasnt taken care of immediately like most stuff on here, but yeah. Idk if its a problem or not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.17.254.34 (talk) 20:11, 12 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Consistency

The second sentence says "Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to transport water; flumes use flowing water to transport materials". However, the article goes on to cite a number of examples of flumes created to transport water ("millrace", "irrigation flume" "diversion flume, carrying water from one reservoir to another" etc.). I propose that sentence is removed. Bagunceiro (talk) 16:37, 20 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Not only that but, in the US, "flume" can just as well denote a natural formation, according to the definitions in Merriam Webster ("a ravine or gorge with a stream running through it") and the Oxford English dictionary ("a narrow passage or defile between nearly perpendicular rocks, through which runs a stream"). Merriam Webster is a dictionary of US English and OED says this particular meaning is "as applied in the United States, and chiefly in the White Mountains". Indeed, I've mostly encountered the word at US ski resorts in the names of runs along such formations.

Getting back to the artificial creation: it may be that the restriction regarding the transportation of materials or goods is too narrow. Cambridge says "a narrow channel made for carrying water, for example to factories that produce electricity"; MW says "an inclined channel for conveying water (as for power)"; OED says "An artificial channel for a stream of water to be applied to some industrial use".

I'm not completely sure that there's a hard-and-fast division between the meanings of the two terms. One aqueduct that I know of definitely wasn't built for the purpose of bringing water to anybody or any place. The Alexandria Aqueduct was built to carry barge traffic over the Potomac River between the C&O Canal on the District of Columbia/Maryland side of the river and the Alexandria Canal that, at the time, ran from Rosslyn on the Virginia side through what was then Alexandria County (today it's Arlington County) to the City of Alexandria and its port. Largoplazo (talk) 19:11, 20 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]