Case
Building Drought Resilience With Grundfos
The Situation
Access to water and energy costs are significant challenges facing Irrigators and Farmers all across the country. Particularly when challenged by extremely dry weather, those working the land are looking to build drought resilience, by managing reliable water access and controlling water supply costs within their property boundaries.
Rob and Jen Brooks, who raise cattle and grow fodder on their property located in Kilkivan near Gympie, Queensland, discovered they could access underground water to irrigate their 85 acres of fodder crops including; oat, lucerne, barley and corn.
With an objective to run their irrigation systems with as close to no running costs, they approached Peter Chadband and his team of experts at The Pump House.
The Solution
To achieve Rob and Jen’s vision, The Pump House team designed and installed a comprehensive solar pumping system that included; submersible solar pumps, solar panels, water storage tanks, new sprinklers and a radio control system.
Four Grundfos submersible pumps (SP17 and SP30) were installed at an average depth of 50 metres to draw water from the groundwater source. These pumps are powered entirely by solar - with 206 solar panels and array frames supplied from Grundfos.
Rather than pump directly from the groundwater supply to the irrigation systems, the pumps deliver water to two 375,000 litre storage tanks. These tanks are installed at an elevation of 36 metres above the cultivation and 300 metres from the irrigation system. This allows for the water stored in the tanks to be gravity fed to the irrigation system, eliminating the need for power in getting water from the tanks to the irrigation system.
The system also included a range of Grundfos accessories including the Renewable Solar Inverter (RSI) - an off grid solar inverter for converting DC power from larger solar panel arrays to AC power that the Grundfos SP pumps run on, along with sinewave filters, flow switches and a combiner box.
The Grundfos range of solar solutions bring together pumps, controllers and solar arrays that have been designed to work together seamlessly, making it easier to make the right choice.
The Outcome
“We had a vision to drought-proof our property. The other part of our vision was no running costs, and, thanks to The Pump House, that has now become a reality”, said satisfied customer Rob Brooks.
The system is currently providing enough water for the irrigation of part of the property’s fodder crops (35 hectares). The Brooks’ plan to develop an additional 40 hectares of their property with irrigation, with a further 3 bores to be kitted out with Grundfos solar submersible pumps in the near future.
Grundfos solar pumping solutions present a cost effective, flexible and reliable water supply solution using renewable energy. The experts at Local Authorised Grundfos Dealer, The Pump House (with stores across Queensland in Nambour, Beerwah, Gympie and Chinchilla) can help size and select a Grundfos solar solutions package or bring together a bespoke solar pumping package to suit almost any requirement.