Effluent Distribution Systems

 

 

 

 

WaterForce offers a range of solutions for on-farm and municipal waste water distribution systems. We provide both under-slung and direct injection options using centre pivots or linear irrigators to carry and distribute these often hard-to-handle liquids.

 

 


Under-Slung

A secondary line can be attached under selected Valley pivot spans to allow effluent to be dispersed either by traditional large volume guns or via a secondary sprinkler pack designed to suit the ‘grey’ or ‘slurry’ effluent being distributed.

An under-slung system comes with a full Valley warranty and gives you the ability to apply effluent to controlled areas whilst irrigating the full paddock. It also allows you to ‘wash’ the effluent by irrigating clean water over the top.

It’s most popular with dairy farmers who are upgrading from traditional rotary boom irrigators and other ‘raw’ effluent distribution systems. An under-slung system allows for a greater level of solids to be distributed, from dirty water right through to raw dairy shed waste streams.

Advantages include making full use of your pivot hardware, and keeping foreign debris separate from irrigation water to reduce the risk of blockages occurring in your main water sprinkler pack.


Direct Injection

This is an accurate and ‘even’ way to distribute waste streams across your land and is popular on dairy farms and municipal waste sites.

Direct injection allows effluent to be distributed over the full pivot area if required, making full use of your pivot hardware. It also allows the use of VRI Zone and VRI iS (with filtration) to control effluent on sensitive areas and to suit soil types.

Filtered effluent water is directly injected into the base of your pivot irrigators. The filtration required can be achieved by gravity (via a two pond anaerobic/aerobic breakdown system) or by mechanical means (separator) and polishing filter. The liquid needs to break down to a level where it still offers your pasture or crop nutritional benefit but the larger particles and fibres are removed.

Using your standard pivot sprinkler pack is one of the most accurate ways of applying effluent evenly. Two pond systems combined with direct injection often only need to run for 1-2 days per month.

A wider range of flows and duties can also be custom-designed for each farm, from low injection rates (5% effluent) through to 100% effluent injections based on your system’s requirements.


Proof of Placement (POP)

Knowing where, when, and how much effluent and water you have applied via your pivots throughout the season is vital information for future planning and the successful environmental management of your farm.

POP is available via our SCADAfarm programme. When combined with effluent testing, you can use this information to calculate nutrient budgets in Overseer and help prepare farm environmental plans.

This information will allow you to closely monitor how much water you’ve used compared with previous seasons. You can then make better decisions around future water use by customising irrigation to suit your environmental conditions. You can also benchmark your pivots against one another, plan to minimise your power consumption, and work alongside your staff to improve management practices.