Stirring effluent pond storage does not have to be a complicated or time consuming when you have the right equipment in place. To understand how long you should be stirring your effluent pond storage, let’s walk through why stirring efficiently is so important.
Why It’s Important To Stir Effluent
Stirring your effluent pond storage thoroughly allows for everything to stay in suspension. This keeps solids from crusting on the top and developing weed growth, or creating a hard layer at the bottom that can become almost impossible to break up. It is especially important to stir thoroughly if your effluent system includes a bladder or an above-ground storage tanks or a HDPE lined pond. This is because you cannot easily dig them out.
Maximizes Storage Capacity
Stirring effluent efficiently allows for you to maximise your storage holding capacity. This makes sure that the effluent stays in suspense and up off the bottom of the storage floor to maintain the full capacity of your overall storage.
Provides Even Distribution of Nutrients
Properly mixing your effluent storage gives you the ability to have an even spread of nutrients across your paddocks. With more guarantee for even distribution (as can be seen in the above image, spreading being carried our with a Cobra Travelling Rain Gun), you can make sure you yield better returns.
Increases Effluent Pump Longevity
Keeping your pond stirred removes the issue of sand and grit building up that can prematurely cause your effluent pump to degrade. By ensuring the longevity of equipment, you can keep operations running without downtime.
How Often Should I Be Stirring?
There is no straight forward rule for how often you should be stirring your effluent pond storage. In general, we recommend weekly. During the winter months when you are not irrigating, then you can manage stirring fortnightly if you have a powerful enough stirrer that can manage the size of your pond storage. Not all stirrers are built the same, which is why it is important to check that your stirrer is specified to suit the size and type of your effluent storage.
Do I need a pond stirrer if I already have a solid separator?
If you are using a weeping wall or other solid separator method, fine particles still settle and can cause issues later on. Even with solid separation, we recommend having a stirrer.
How Long Should I Be Stirring My Effluent Pond Storage?
We recommend stirring every week for 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the pond and power of the stirrer. Start your Nevada electric stirrer or PTO pond stirrer up 30 minutes prior to irrigating. If you have a stirrer that is less powerful, you may have to stir for longer prior to sucking any effluent out of the pond.
If you are unable to run the stirrer and pump at the same time due to lack of power capacity, our recommendation is to have an effective stirrer that you can turn on first before switching to pumping. Having a correctly specified Nevada pond mixer allows for faster more efficient stirring, rather than running an inefficient stirrer all the time. The horizontal thrust of the Nevada Typhoon® propeller provides the most efficient and effective result.
The length of time you need to stir the effluent is different for each situation. For small concrete inground tanks, it may take only 15 minutes with a highly effective submersible stirrer. However, if the effluent storage has not been stirred for several months, it will take a greater amount of time.
Should I be worried about erosion with a pond stirrer?
Not if you have a synthetic lined pond, bladder or tank. However, if you have a clay lined pond (without a synthetic liner), it is easy to avoid issues with erosion or damage by adjusting the position of the stirrer. Nevada stirrers are easily adjustable for the angle and depth, which protects the walls of your clay lined pond.
On-Farm Assessment for the Right Effluent Pond Stirrer
Our team at Nevada can assess your effluent system to match the best stirrer to maintain your effluent storage. Whether you have an above ground storage tank or utilise ponds or bladders (bladders require a PTO pump for stirring), our team can help you find the best solution.