Rural

DELTA does the job

Asking people armed with pliers to walk along rows of grape vines to break up calcium in drippers hardly seemed viable for Tamworth district winegrower David Edmunds. The job, involving drippers placed 70 millimetres apart, was arduous, frustrating and far from efficient.

But Mr Edmunds needed to get the bore supply to his 28-hectare Tangaratta Vineyards crop and was at a loss at what else to do to keep his vines alive and producing quality grapes. That was until he took a punt and contacted Alex Panov from DELTAwater Solutions to find the answers.

“It was a huge problem. At one stage we had six ladies walking the dripper lines with pliers – just to get the drippers to drip. The vines weren’t getting a drink,” Mr Edmunds said.

“I can’t remember how I heard about DELTAwater, I think it was word of mouth. But we caught up and after gathering all the information and going through a bit of a process, what we’ve finished up with is doing the job.”

Mr Panov adapted a DELTA Magnetic Water Conditioner to David’s dripper system, finding the best and most efficient application for the various pipes and filters. Mr Edmunds said he was confident the conditioning system had been a success.

“There’s no doubt it got us going,” David said. “And I can honestly say that if we didn’t have the system in, along with an acid flush now and again, we would be in all sorts of trouble. I have just finished the irrigation season and I have cleaned the filter cartridges once. That’s compared to before when I had to hit them with hydrochloric acid and the pressure cleaner at least three times. I haven’t had to do that since we installed the conditioner.”

The DELTA Magnetic Water Conditioner is based on magnetic treatment which frees up water with high levels of salt, calcium and iron for irrigation. The result is a reduction in harmful effects on plants and the prevention of restriction and blockage in micro, drip-tube and drip-tape irrigation systems.

The process, which involves an intense magnetic field ‘softening’ the water, is common in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Mr Edmunds: “I’ve had a lot of people ring me and ask me how it’s going. What I say is that I don’t have the problems I used to have.”

DELTA technology paying off

Loxton grape grower Peter Schulz, 46, can only rely on a ‘gut feeling’ that a chance he took to improve long-term conditions for his Salmon Gum Estates property is paying dividends. But Peter, owning and working the vineyard for 22 years, is confident Delta Magnetic Water Conditioners he applied to his irrigation system little more than a year ago are reducing work and saving water.

“What I’ve seen is hard to quantify. But a lot of things have happened since I installed the conditioners in 2007,” he said. “We put four conditioners in and the vines seem to grow easier and healthier there’s not as much sediment in the drip lines. And we’ve had quite reasonable tonnages despite cutting back on water.”

Farming practicality armed Peter with a desire to research ideas and concepts to improve long-term production and sustainability. He said he wanted to find a way to combat future salinity in irrigated water and reduce time, effort and chemicals flushing algae and sediment in drip lines. “I looked into it and spoke to Alex Panov from DELTAwater solutions. I’m happy it’s doing the job. Now others are looking at the technology.”

Loxton grape grower Peter Schulz among healthy vines at his Salmon Gum Estates vineyard.