System Pulls Clean Water Out Of Liquid Manure

System Pulls Clean Water Out Of Liquid Manure MANURE HANDLING Equipment With more than 2 000 head of cows in its dairy herd McCormick Farms in Bliss New York produces millions of gallons of liquid manure each year After installing a Liquid Water Recyling LWR system in 2015 the large dairy operation is now able to separate out water and reuse it on the farm Nate Hartway the financial and enironmental compliance manager for McCormick says their system took about 2 months to install Before entering the system manure moves through a sand lane where the sand drops out and the refuse moves on It goes through a separator to remove solids and then into a homogenized pond Raw manure is then pumped into the 50 by 100-ft LWR building where it’s separated into 3 parts Hartway says about 10 to 15 percent is a semi-solid material that holds 100 percent of the phosphorus and slow-release nitrogen The second product is 20 to 25 percent of a concentrated liquid nitrogen that contains ammonium which is quick-release N and potassium The remaining liquid about 60 percent of the total is clean water Hartway says each of the 3 products are pumped from the system through underground pipes into separate lagoons One holds 2 million gallons of semi-solids the liquid N goes into a 5 million gal lagoon and the water goes into a 1 million gal lagoon linked to a 9 million gal satellite lagoon a mile away The unique aspect of McCormick’s system is that all 3 of the reclaimed products are used to fertilize or water the farm’s crops Although the water is clean enough to drink it’s re-used to flush the barns 3 times a day and also to irrigate crops Hartway says the system has lowered the farm’s manure handling costs because there are fewer trucks on the road fewer spreaders and not as many manure pumps They’re also making better use of the nutrients because the N P and K are being separated This allows precision application on fields so N P and K aren’t over-applied McCormick’s LWR System is treating about 70 000 to 80 000 gal a day and they’re aiming to reach 100 000 gal Contact: FARM SHOW Followup McCormick Farms Inc 4189 NY-78 Bliss New York 14024 ph 585 322-7274

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