Friday, 05 June 2020 11:24

Effluent treatment system yields a wide range of positive impacts

Written by  Staff Reporters
Ravensdown’s ClearTech system uses a coagulant to bind colloidal particles together to settle them out from the water. Ravensdown’s ClearTech system uses a coagulant to bind colloidal particles together to settle them out from the water.

For South Canterbury dairy farmers Neil and Margaret Campbell, installing a ClearTech effluent treatment system has yielded a wide range of positive impacts on their 240ha farm.

Thorneycroft, an 800-cow property near Geraldine, borders the water collection zone for the township. It was while working with Ravensdown Environmental to renew his farm consents that Neil says the idea of installing a ClearTech unit came about. 

“The science was a plus with the information we were putting together with our consents to farm, which is why we pursued the ClearTech system for that particular farm,” he says.

Developed in conjunction with Lincoln University, Ravensdown’s ClearTech system uses a coagulant to bind colloidal particles together to settle them out from the water. This clarifying process reduces the environmental and safety risks linked with farm dairy effluent (FDE). It kills 99% of E. coli bacteria in the clarified water and reduces the risk of phosphorus leaching in the FDE applied to pasture. 

Stripping out the E. coli and other bacteria in FDE means freshwater use is reduced, while effluent storage capability is increased. The clarified water is used to wash down the dairy yard and irrigated back onto paddocks.

By reducing the amount of FDE by around two-thirds, ClearTech offers Neil a proactive solution to the environmental issue of spreading effluent to pasture near the township. 

He’s also noted better water conservation and increased time efficiencies for staff on-farm, particularly with their travelling irrigator system for effluent spreading. 

“The less material we have to spread with that, the less labour is required,” he notes. 

Neil’s seen firsthand how much easier it has made things for the staff on Thorneycroft, and his advice for anyone thinking about ClearTech is to ‘go for it’. 

“There are so many positives with it and the science is all there behind it.”

www.ravensdown.co.nz 

More like this

Get the odour in order

Odour from farm dairy effluent is increasingly an issue as herd sizes grow and urban boundaries get closer to operating farms.

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.

Featured

Expo set to wow again

Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.

Editorial: NZ's great China move

OPINION: The New Zealand red meat sector, with support from the Government, has upped the ante to retain and expand its niche in the valuable Chinese market - and the signs are looking positive.

Wool-derived protein eyes $2b market

Keratin extracted from New Zealand wool could soon find its way into products used to minimise osteoporosis, promote gut health, and other anti-inflammatories, says Keraplast chief executive Howard Moore.

» Latest Print Issues Online

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter