Duncan Family Farms Installs Innovative Irrigation Water Treatment System
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Case Studies
Duncan Family Farms, a family-owned, multi-regional grower of more than 7,000 acres of certified organic produce, is installing a controllable and transportable treatment system for irrigation water.
The installation, including five systems on organic baby tender leaf crops in Oregon, represents the first agricultural use of water treatment systems from Germany’s Kuntze Instruments, a global supplier of industrial water treatment and process control equipment.
“We take the health of our soil, along with the safety of our employees and products, very seriously,” Duncan Family Farms Director of Technical Services Jeremy Vanderzyl said. “We were looking for the best solution to safely meet the recently adopted Leafy Greens Marketing Association sanitation requirements for irrigation water, and Kuntze presented impressive technology that could positively impact our growing operations and the entire fresh produce industry.”
Duncan Family Farms’ new water treatment system includes sensors for real-time monitoring and management of chlorine, pH levels and temperature in surface-sourced irrigation water.
The application of chlorine is automatically adjusted to maintain the optimum levels for water treatment. This prevents the over-application of chlorine which is often seen in manual applications, reducing chlorine use and related costs, while protecting the rich organic soil and employees from hazardous chlorine exposure. The system is connected to Kuntze’s Cloud Connect service, providing Duncan with real-time information, alerts and control to remotely manage their system from any Wi-Fi connected device.
“Our Cloud Connect data tool and industrial process control systems are perfectly suited for agriculture irrigation water sanitization application providing 24/7 key information for an efficient operation,” Kuntze USA President Andrew Barker said. “Once a field is harvested, the compact, self-contained units can be easily moved to another field, saving the capital costs of a permanent installation.”
Taxonomy
- Irrigation
- Sensor Systems
- Remote Sensing & Data Analysis
- Sanitation & Hygiene
- Irrigation Agronomy
- Precision irrigation