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STORING EFFLUENT ABOVE GROUND WHEN BERNARD AND LINDA Virbickas wanted to add a feed pad to their large herd operation in Bay of Plenty, they also tied an effluent system upgrade into the project. The upgrade on the Otakiri property, sharemilked by their daughter Bridie, was designed so they could flood wash the feed pad with green-water. Precise DE did the accredited design and put together a high-end system including a large drive-in sand trap, large concrete sump with a 7.5kW agitator, a GEA slope screen and solids bunker, and a 4.2 million litre Kliptank with Klipjet stirrers. All the concrete work was completed by Archway Group, and all the pumps and electrical equipment was installed by the team at Think Water Bay of Plenty led by Angus Clark. Instead of using header tanks like traditional flood wash systems, they installed a GEA system which uses a 22kW
The large scale feed pad and effluent system upgrade on the Virbickas’ Bay of Plenty dairy unit.
Grundfos pump to draw the green water directly out of the Kliptank and on to the feed pad on demand, either by automatic timer or manual override. They chose a Kliptank because of soft soils and high water table issues which made a pond very difficult. The added benefit of above ground storage is that all the pumps are flooded suction and do
NZ Dairy Exporter | Effluent Management Solutions | November 2021
not require priming. The same pump that runs the flood wash also powers the Klipjet Stirring and Aeration System inside the Kliptank. This is designed to use air bubbles to blast the sludge layer off the bottom and bring the fine solids particles into suspension just prior to irrigation, preventing a long-term build-up of sludge.
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