In 2008, WaterForce Limited (the Valley Dealer in New Zealand) won the opportunity to design, supply, and install a municipal wastewater disposal site for the Taupo District Council in New Zealand. The development included:
- Contouring 150ha of land
- Site roading
- Pump house
- Pump station
- Pivot irrigation
The wastewater disposal site uses Valley precision pivot irrigation technology to dispose of municipal wastewater by applying it to land planted with rye grass. The nutrients in the wastewater are taken up by the rye grass, which is then cut, baled, and sold as stock feed to the local community. Annual feed sales topped one millon NZ dollars (USD$700,000) this year.
When designing the site, WaterForce Limited had to ensure the irrigation would meet the standards set out in the resource consent and also provide the Taupo District Council with comprehensive logging and reporting of application rates, volumes, and site operations. The scheme was to run 365 days per year and WaterForce Limited was to provide 5 years compensatory maintenance. Valley pivots were selected with the following features:
- Low drift/aerosol sprinkler with 10 psi regulators
- Turf grip tires to reduce rutting on pumice soil
- Boombacks to mount sprinklers outside drive tower to reduce rutting
- Sprinkler zone control for buffer no-go zones
- Adjustable trajectory end guns
Valley Pro2 control panels were intergrated with the Council's SCADA computer system to provide full control and recording for the site. At the base of each pivot was an electronic flow meter and a main control valve, which operates to control wastewater to the pivot. Weather stations were fitted to each center pivot that allowed pivot operations to be modified according to weather events local to the pivot.
The entire project installation went smoothly with all parties being very happy with the working system.