DELTA iron filtration system keeps kangaroos healthy in wildlife shelter

The picturesque central Victorian district of Reedy Creek is renowned for its gold mining history and although the last mine closed in the early 1900s the area remains popular for gold panning and fossicking.

Reedy Creek is also home to the Little Urchins Wildlife Shelter on Sue Handbury’s property where Kat Agar-Teehan cares for kangaroos and other wildlife.

A bore water supply for the sanctuary has high salinity and iron levels, and water carting during summer for the kangaroos, which can go into kidney failure if they drink water that is too high in minerals, was commonplace.

The iron in the water also caused staining on equipment such as spray units, tanks, pipes and fittings.

Sue took to Google and found Australian company DELTAwater solutions who manufacture an iron filtration system. Custom designed and manufactured in Newcastle by Alex and Dianne Panov, who founded their water treatment company more than 25 years ago, the system effectively removes the iron, manganese and tannins from bore water.

“We couldn’t keep up with the water carting and we needed a solution for using our bore water for the kangaroos. I knew there had to be something that could help, particularly with the iron,” Sue said.

“We ended up going with DELTAwater solutions because they are 100% Australian and we felt confident we were buying a quality product, which it is,” Sue says.

Shelter manager Kat says she recommends the DELTAwater iron filtration system to all wildlife carers in her vast national network.

“I’m linked to shelters all over Australia and they often come to me to help with problems they’re having with their animals and a lot of the time it’s because they don’t have fresh water. I tell them to install the DELTAwater solutions unit.”

Kat says the benefits of the DELTA are not having to change filters all the time like other filtration systems and its ease of use. She says DELTAwater solutions also worked closely with them to work out how long they needed to filter their water.

“We have a holding tank that our bore water goes into and then we run the filtration unit for around four hours. Once it’s filtered the water goes into another big tank which is our main tank we pump from.

“We keep this big tank full all the time, and know that we can filter two holding tanks a day after DELTA tested the times for us when we first installed.”

They also have a custom-designed DELTAwater magnetic water treatment unit which treats the iron-free water before it goes into the property’s homes. The water for the wildlife also goes through the magnetic system.

“What I always say is that if I can’t drink the water, then they can’t drink it,” Kat says. “Firstly the iron filtration and then the DELTA magnetic water treatment system have made a big difference.”

Kat says cost also factored into the decision.

“A lot of people who run wildlife shelters don’t have a lot of money coming in all the time, so once you’ve purchased the DELTA iron filtration system there’s no ongoing costs apart from the electricity when you do your filtering.

“Because DELTA worked with us to work out the shortest possible time to get the best results, we can minimise these electricity costs. Also, with the water we were carting in over summer, the unit has paid for itself by saving us that expense.”