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DAIRY SERVICES: Archway Group
NZ Dairy / Summer 2014
Archway Group’s weeping wall effluent drying bed (right foreground) uses gravity to remove solids before entering the pond (rear). Raw effluent is flood washed into the sludge beds with the weeping wall at the end allowing only green water through.
Weeping wall ‘efficient, low cost’ Jo Bailey Providing cost-effective, innovative solutions for effluent and silage management is the current focus of the Bay of Plenty-based Archway Group of companies. Owner Matt Hodgson heads the group’s two divisions, Archway Environmental – which sells and markets weeping walls and silage bunker – and Archway Construction which builds them. “Our team of hardworking, good buggers, at Archway Construction has built 11 weeping wall effluent drying beds from Taupo to Port Waikato in the last year alone,” says Matt. He says the “efficient, low cost” system, harnesses gravity to passively remove effluent
It is a great alternative to a lot of the expensive solid separators, screens, pumps and presses that many farmers are putting in. solids. “The weeping wall is an effective, non mechanical solid separation system that has no real ongoing costs apart from emptying it once a year. It is a great alternative to a lot of the expensive solid separators, screens, pumps and presses that many farmers are putting in.” Raw effluent from the dairy shed and feed pad is flood-washed into sludge beds, with the weeping wall at the end only allowing the green water through.
Removing the solids prior to irrigation results in less frequent pond cleaning, lower pumping costs and fewer blockages in irrigation equipment, says Matt. “It’s an awesome system as we can recycle the green water back through for flood washes, helping to conserve water and combat the water limits being put in place.” Archway Construction provides nutrient testing with every weeping wall, to assist farmers
with their effluent application rates. “It’s a bit of an expense for us but it’s important that we provide the information and education to help our clients get the most out of the system. By providing farmers with extensive data, we can help them to apply the effluent at the right time, at a rate that is beneficial for the plants rather than just emptying the pond and throwing it on the paddocks.” “We’re trying to lead the way in innovative thinking and come up with cost-effective solutions that really make a difference.” Archway Construction’s latest innovation is a silage bunker wall system that will achieve better compaction, and cut the company’s onsite
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