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.
Yard washing, pumping and effluent screening gear will be on the GEA site at the Effluent Expo at Mystery Creek. The expo will be held on November 27 and 28.
At the milking shed, the Flush Valve offers quick and easy wash-down using high volumes of fresh water or recycled effluent (‘green water’). This has a 5.5m clearing width and the liquid is delivered in a horizontal plane with little or no splashing vertically.
The heart of the system is a valve actuated via a robust airbag system for opening or closing; it requires only 40psi to achieve a head of 8m.
It’s reckoned easy to install and maintain via large access panels.
The Agri-Pump, a dual-purpose unit that agitates and pumps, can handle effluents with high fibre or solids content to supply a constant flow of well agitated material.
Using a rugged propeller knife and impellor blade system, the belt-driven unit has a pump whose revs are easily adjustable, and a rotating nozzle (optional) deals with crusts or stagnant liquid.
The unit mounts on the side of the reception pit and is supported at the base; this siting allows easy maintenance. Its 3-way gearbox drives a propeller and an impellor, to agitate and pump from a common drive shaft. The cast iron impellor carries four curved blades to pump through a 100mm outlet pipe.
In many installations the pump flow might be directed to a GEA Slope Screen that separates the liquid and solid portions of effluent, reducing wear and blockages in pumps, effluent lines and irrigator nozzles.
The liquid portion can be held in a storage tank and re-directed for wash-down, saving clean water, while the solid content can be used as a fertiliser or soil conditioner.
In operation, the Slope Screen is mounted on a platform above a solids bunker, with a flow of untreated effluent directed to the top of the screen via a regulator valve. As the effluent moves down the screen the liquid passes through to a holding tank while the solids are collected in a loading bunker.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.
OPINION: European farmers are going to extreme lengths to have their message heard.
OPINION: The hustle and bustle of one of Bangkok's most popular fast food outlets may feel a world away from…