Piggery effluent polluting stream
Waikato Regional Council has sought an interim Enforcement Order from the Environment Court to stop piggery effluent from entering a waterway north of Te Aroha.
A new heavy-duty, shore-based stirrer from effluent handling specialist Hi-Tech Enviro Solutions can help eliminate the problem of crusts forming on effluent pond or storage towers.
The machine is designed to deal with a pond of 3.5 million litres.
The stirrer, made extensively from high-grade galvanised steel, has a triangular pedestal designed to be bolted to a concrete pad at the edge of the pond.
A deep, square-section support tube, in this case 8m long, can be tailored to individual situations; it has a large propeller surrounded by a shroud not unlike an empty oil drum. The interaction between the propeller and the shroud is designed to increase the velocity of the liquid and to create a vortex that keeps solids in suspension and helps reduce the build-up of silted areas in a pond.
Depth control is achieved by a heavy-duty chain arrangement at the pedestal end, with an integral foot at the business end designed to protect the liner from damage.
Also at this end of the unit, a mechanical linkage can be adjusted to alter the angle of the propeller/shroud to mix thoroughly.
Power comes from a shore-mounted electricity supply from 4 to 7.5kW; gearbox reductions at the propeller end can be tweaked to a range of speeds and power requirements.
China’s Ambassador Wang Xiaolong says bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and New Zealand has made significant and rapid progress.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.