“Because of the many irrigation pumps in Canterbury, there is not a lot of electricity going spare so we had to develop a stirrer that was very low kW but powerful enough to do the job,” Neil Pluck of Pluck’s Engineering says.
They solved the problem by developing a big, three-bladed propeller which rotates under the surface of the effluent pond.
The blades draw the liquid upwards, spreading the flow horizontally outwards so anything on top gets drawn down and anything on the bottom gets drawn up and is blended. The blades of the EPS Stirrer are mounted on a solid 40mm HT steel shaft with all the bearings above the waterline.
“The new model doesn’t need greasing at all and has a new planetary gearbox motor combo that has a two-year warranty, which is unheard of in effluent equipment.”
The different stirrers draw 0.75kW to 2.2kW depending on the model and they can make any sized stirrer as a one-off as well.
“It’s about moving volume and not needing horsepower to do it,” Pluck said.
The engineering company, which has been in Canterbury for more than 100 years and owned by the Pluck family since 1966, realised there was a need for better effluent pond health. They employed scientists to help them with the biology and found agitating the water to the top allowed oxygen and sunlight to be absorbed – the two ingredients needed to keep the water aerobic and biologically active.
“Otherwise water becomes stagnant, dead and smelly and ponds develop a crust on top and a huge sludge build-up on the bottom which takes up valuable pond volume storage space.
Even ponds with crusts so thick they can be walked over can be agitated back to liquid using the Pluck’s EPS Stirrer.
“And of course what is happening on the top to the crust is also happening on the bottom to the sludge.
“With solids suspended, effluent pumps can easily suck up the liquid without becoming blocked and move it to the pasture where it belongs. It becomes a plant food instead of an environmental hazard.”
Ponds can be run almost to empty leaving farmers with increased storage capacity for wet days when effluent can’t be irrigated.
“We’re really excited we have been able to develop a stirrer that works in knee-deep water. It’s making farmers very happy and also regional councils.”
For more information visit www.plucks.co.nz or call 0800 PLUCKS (0800 758 257).
