Parlour Washings and other mildly contaminated water

Bald Rick

Moderator
Livestock Farmer
Location
Anglesey
We seem to produce an inordinate amount of mildly contaminated water from washing down and cleaning the parlour and bulk tank.
At the moment it’s pumped to a slurry tank under one of the cow sheds but this compromises storage
We’ve tried irrigating via a Rotorainer but it’s too fragile and needs too much attention.

Ideas and solutions … that don’t cost a fortune please
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
We seem to produce an inordinate amount of mildly contaminated water from washing down and cleaning the parlour and bulk tank.
At the moment it’s pumped to a slurry tank under one of the cow sheds but this compromises storage
We’ve tried irrigating via a Rotorainer but it’s too fragile and needs too much attention.

Ideas and solutions … that don’t cost a fortune please
Went to see a dairy farm for sale before moving to Canada. They had settlement ponds with bulrushes to filter and recycle wash water. Even had an extruded that press water from slurry and that water went into the ponds aswell I think. The semi dry solids were stored and spread as required. Would take up a fair amount of space and not sure if the water police would approve now.
 

Bald Rick

Moderator
Livestock Farmer
Location
Anglesey
Went to see a dairy farm for sale before moving to Canada. They had settlement ponds with bulrushes to filter and recycle wash water. Even had an extruded that press water from slurry and that water went into the ponds aswell I think. The semi dry solids were stored and spread as required. Would take up a fair amount of space and not sure if the water police would approve now.

The Welsh Gestapo don’t allow such things. It would be logical but of course rushes die off during winter (which is their excuse)
 

vantage

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembs
We seem to produce an inordinate amount of mildly contaminated water from washing down and cleaning the parlour and bulk tank.
At the moment it’s pumped to a slurry tank under one of the cow sheds but this compromises storage
We’ve tried irrigating via a Rotorainer but it’s too fragile and needs too much attention.

Ideas and solutions … that don’t cost a fortune please
PulseJet, covers 2 acres from one spot. I’ve got one to use when I rearrange the dirty water from the parlour.
 

onesiedale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Derbyshire
as above. Separate storage as 'grey water' because it doesn't have slurry in it means it can be spread any time of year and doesn't come under slurry storage requirements .
simple outdoor pit, earth bank and lined .
 

Bald Rick

Moderator
Livestock Farmer
Location
Anglesey
Sleeping on it, I don’t think an irrigation gun is the way to go even if a pulse jet was available as we milk 365 generating 30+ cubes of DW per day

Does anyone store DW separately ? Thinking of secondhand tank then use our umbilical with a tractor on balloons in winter or the option to blow DW in to the slurry lagoons if they need wetting

other ideas?
 

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
We seem to produce an inordinate amount of mildly contaminated water from washing down and cleaning the parlour and bulk tank.
At the moment it’s pumped to a slurry tank under one of the cow sheds but this compromises storage
We’ve tried irrigating via a Rotorainer but it’s too fragile and needs too much attention.

Ideas and solutions … that don’t cost a fortune please
I am not sure what you get up to with a rotorainer, they last over 20 years here. The only problem we had was when we were unable to get smooth layflat and the rougher stuff kept twisting. We now use 50 mm blue MDPE, and if we need to take it across the road we have to block the road while we tow it across.

We have a 350m3 dirty water lagoon, which takes parlour washings, cheese factory washings and drainage, and contaminated rain water, with soakaways for uncontaminated rain water.

It is a system we have been using for well over 30 years with minor modifications without problems. Our herd is not large (110 in milk year round).

We use a progressive cavity pump from the lagoon to the rotorainer. We can pump from our digestate lagoon to the field digestate store, or swap hoses and pump dirty water to the rotorainer. Digestate lagoon shown, dirty water on the left.
20190616_074632.jpg
 
Sleeping on it, I don’t think an irrigation gun is the way to go even if a pulse jet was available as we milk 365 generating 30+ cubes of DW per day

Does anyone store DW separately ? Thinking of secondhand tank then use our umbilical with a tractor on balloons in winter or the option to blow DW in to the slurry lagoons if they need wetting

other ideas?
Blimey
Any way to reduce your usage?
30+cubes is a lot
 

Bald Rick

Moderator
Livestock Farmer
Location
Anglesey
I am not sure what you get up to with a rotorainer, they last over 20 years here. The only problem we had was when we were unable to get smooth layflat and the rougher stuff kept twisting. We now use 50 mm blue MDPE, and if we need to take it across the road we have to block the road while we tow it across.

We have a 350m3 dirty water lagoon, which takes parlour washings, cheese factory washings and drainage, and contaminated rain water, with soakaways for uncontaminated rain water.

It is a system we have been using for well over 30 years with minor modifications without problems. Our herd is not large (110 in milk year round).

We use a progressive cavity pump from the lagoon to the rotorainer. We can pump from our digestate lagoon to the field digestate store, or swap hoses and pump dirty water to the rotorainer. Digestate lagoon shown, dirty water on the left.
View attachment 1007063

Rotorainer is very susceptible to blocking and due to quantity of DW, needed moving every 3 days as came to end of its tether. No good either when the grass gets above 7cm.
All in all, a thundering nuisance
 

Fendt820

Member
Would really just stick to chucking in the slurry pit. End up spending a load of money on a system that is crap or takes lots of time. And then will just be chucked in hedge. Plus If rules change u might not be able to use some systems
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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