Drilling down into water issues
FARMERS looking to access desperately needed water from existing bores need to be careful before they start pumping.
Southern Rural Water drilling inspector Tony Sanders has urged anyone with an existing well to hasten slowly when getting it back into action.
He said a dry 18 months and early start to sweltering summer conditions has seen many farmers considering bores that have not been used for some time.
Water availability, salinity and bore infrastructure all need to be factored in before the first drop of underground water can be pumped to the surface.
“De-gear them to start, pull the pumps and everything out – the whole shooting match,” Mr Sanders said.
“Have somebody come in and redevelop the well and do a flow-rate test on it.
“One thing I must emphasise, is to do a proper pump test over 24 hours. Make sure the pump you have in the hole matches the flow-rate.”
Mr Sanders said farmers need to ascertain the flow-rate and the draw down and have a pump matched to both.
“Also take into consideration the amount of head,” he urged.
“Your pump person will be able to help with their head pressure and friction loss.”
Ongoing monitoring of the bore is crucial to ensure pumps don’t run dry, causing the entire system to break down.
“A bore might produce 450ml of water a second but when you pump that bore for 30 or 40 days straight that flow-rate will drop off,” Mr Sanders said.
“So they might only get 300ml of water per second after a while and they need to be able to monitor that.”
Mr Sanders believed the best way to monitor bore performance was through the flow-rate of the pump while also keeping an eye on the draw down.
“They’re the sort of things farmers can do themselves,” he said.
“It’s a bit time consuming but it’s worthwhile to make it part of your weekly routine to check the flow-rate and draw down.”
As part of GippsDairy/Dairy Australia’s ongoing Tactic for Dry Times program, a special meeting was held in Inverloch on Wednesday to address the concerns of farmers in the district.
The coastal area has been among the hardest hit in Gippsland, with many farms already running low on stock water.
Sinking of new bores and restarting old ones was discussed at the meeting, with Mr Sanders on hand to answer questions from farmers.
He said there was not much water available in the district and what can be found is likely to be highly saline.
“Water is between 1000 and 3000 parts ECU (electrical conductivity unit) while some of the bores south west of Inverloch are extremely high in salt – up to 10,000 ECU – and the cows won’t drink that; they won’t produce milk off that,” he said.
Mr Sanders said some of the water can be good for washing down the dairy, but farmers should be careful about the effects of salty water running through water heaters and other equipment.
GippsDairy projects and events coordinator Karen Romano said accessing information from experts like Mr Sanders was crucial during the current season.
“Farmers are looking for every advantage they can get, so GippsDairy and Dairy Australia have been using dairy service levy funds to hold the Tactics for Dry Times sessions across the region,” she said.
“We have a wealth of knowledge in the industry farmers need to be able to access, so we have been bringing together the experts in various fields for these farmer sessions.
“I’d urge any farmer who needs assistance with water issues to access information on the Dairy Australia or GippsDairy websites, contact the offices of the relevant authority or talk to your milk company field officer.”
Offering tips: Dry Times facilitator Matt Harms talks to farmers about coping with dry weather at the Inverloch meeting last Wednesday night.
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Posted by Sarah Vella on Dec 22 2015. Filed under Rural News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
