Step 1.) Make a setup where two connected tubes of water have a higher water level in one tube than the other.
Step 2.) Make a channel from the tube with a higher water level whose bottom is midway between where the two water levels would normally be, allowing flow from the tube with a higher water level to the tube with a lower water level.
Step 3.) Optionally add a water wheel.
Comments
But your waterwheel is extracting energy.
And for the two identical tubes to have different water levels you have to have lifted one manually in the first place.
capillary action prevents step 2 from working.
The water is sticking to the smaller tube, thats the point. It doesnt want to flow out of it, and the amount it doesnt want to flow out is the same as the capillary action forcing it up the tube.
Also, see this stack exchange asking the same question https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/171648/why-doesnt-this-capillary-action-generator-work
In this setup, capillary action will be what prevents it: it will hold the water back from flowing down the channel. The water levels are where they are because that’s where capillary action balances gravity out. If capillary action was stronger than gravity bringing the water up, it’s still stronger than gravity in the spot where you need the water to flow down.