In late 2016, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit just outside the town of Waiau, Canterbury, New Zealand, causing massive ruptures and damage to a 330-hectare dairy pump system with 950 milking cows.
Rather than looking at the damage as a complete disaster, the farm owners took the opportunity to improve on their operation. Key criteria of the dairy pump system redesign included hydraulic design, energy efficiency, easy servicing/ maintenance works and minimal disruption.
Think Water Canterbury was approached to design a new dairy pump system taking these key criteria into consideration. After an in-depth discussion of their needs, it was decided that the winning formula included multiple Grundfos pumps. The system was designed with hydraulic efficiency in mind and laid out in such a way that maintenance and servicing could be carried out by one person, without disruption to the water supply for the dairy cows.
To ensure a safe and reliable stock watering system, an efficient Grundfos SP17-16 (9.2 kW) was installed as a submersible borehole pump. All steel components were made in stainless steel and carry drinking water approval.
The submersible pump provides potable water to the dairy shed, which is then delivered out to stock watering troughs by a twin pump system made up of two Grundfos CR10-six vertical multistage pumps. The twin pump system also provides water to the residential home on the property. The stock water is dosed with minerals via a compact Grundfos DME60-AR dosing pump, with integrated variable speed motor drive.
In addition to the stock-watering requirements, they also installed a Grundfos CM10-3 horizontal multistage pump as a plate cooler pump to cool the milk, and a heavy-duty dairy washdown pump (Grundfos DB11P), was also installed for cleaning purposes.
The system has been operating troublefree since the installation, and the owners and Farm Manager are very satisfied with the outcome.