DELTA water treatment transforms WA vegetable crop

Geraldton’s Allen Espinos reckons the only difference between a dead melon and vegetable crop and his now-thriving one is DELTAwater Solutions technology.

The WA man has four and a half acres dedicated to growing tomatoes, watermelon, rockmelon, corn and sugar cane. The tomato bushes are groaning under the weight of fruit and his melons are running wild. And he attributes it all to the 100% Australian DELTA technology installed about six months ago to condition his harsh bore water.

“It’s done a brilliant job,” Allen says. “It’s blown me away.”

The grower, who sells at local market stalls, was on the cusp of turning his back on growing crops mid last year. Irrigation supply from nearby Chapman River had dried and water from a bore he then sank was high in minerals and salt and killing his plants.

“There was too much salt and acid in the bore water, it was just shocking,” Allen says. “The first crop I put in was 8000 watermelons and they turned up their toes and within four days the crop was gone. The tomatoes went down as well, turned up their toes too and it took about two weeks for them to die. That’s when we started to look at DELTA.”

DELTA’s local agent checked Allen’s bore supply, reporting it was one of the worst samples he’d tested. Test results showed Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of 5000 parts per million (ppm). Vegetables can only tolerate up to TDS 500ppm. The chloride levels in the water were 2040ppm. Chloride levels of 100ppm and above cause leaf burn and stunted growth.

The company, based in Newcastle and owned by Alex and Dianne Panov, recommended he install one of their recently-released DELTA Heavy Duty units about a metre from his bore. DELTA has developed the new Heavy Duty range specifically for water that was unusable in the past due to extremely high mineral content.

“The water coming from the bore was quite murky, but after they put the unit on, what’s coming out of the bore now is crystal clear,” Allen says. “I gave the ground a couple of good soakings for two days, then planted seeds and within three days the seeds popped up and they’ve never looked back. I’ve got growth in watermelons like never before. The growth is up to 600mm deep and just a mass of vines. It’s just that healthy and, quite simply, it’s the water conditioner that’s changed it.”

It’s not just the melons that are responding well to the treated supply. Allen and his wife Mai are having to cut the tops off tomatoes at 1.5 metres and turn them down in an effort to control their growth. Now, buoyed by the success of the unit, they’re planning to put another two acres under crop. And they’re expecting the plants to thrive with DELTA’s touch.

Allen grows his melons and vegetables chemical-free and sells them at market stalls around town. It’s a thriving business and he’s selling up to 70 bags of tomatoes a day.

“I’ve put another 1200 tomatoes in, just to cope with demand,” he says.

DELTAwater solutions’ Australia water treatment technology has more than two decades of proven success delivering solutions for a range of water problems across sectors including agricultural, industrial and domestic. The company’s products are chemical free, maintenance free and power free.

Company owner Dianne Panov says that like Allen, many fruit and vegetable growers and gardeners have turned to DELTA’s products to help counteract an excess of minerals and salt in their water supply.

“We’ve got our Heavy Duty SL Range literally walking out the door at the moment with people from all over Australia needing a solution for water with excessively high mineral content,” Dianne says. “We’ve been developing, testing and improving this product over the last two years. Initially we produced a range specifically for extreme water problems in the mining industry. But we have now adapted it to suit all growers of salt-sensitive plants, from growers supplying garden markets right down to people trying to establish and maintain their home gardens.”

And, like Allen, they’re finding it leads to bigger yields, healthier crops and cleaner irrigation systems.

“This technology is just brilliant,” Allen says. “Anyone who has water issues, you’d be absolutely stupid not to buy one of these DELTA units. I can guarantee they work and I can show anyone around the area what it’s done to my farm.”

As well as saving his livelihood and his plants, the DELTA technology is also saving him maintenance. With the unit installed, he no longer has to waste hours cleaning out his irrigation system. Drippers blocked by mineral build-up are now largely a thing of the past.

“The holes used to keep silting up and I’d have to put acid through to wash out the lines,” he says. “Now there’s virtually no maintenance at all.”

People wanting more information about the DELTA water treatment technology for water with extremely high mineral content can phone 1800 283 600 or navigate around this site and visit our Products page.