{"id":75518,"date":"2023-10-26T12:39:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T23:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/?p=75518"},"modified":"2023-10-26T12:39:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T23:39:24","slug":"waving-effluent-pond-problems-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/farm-management\/waving-effluent-pond-problems-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Waving effluent pond problems away"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Tell a dairy farmer you could clean up their effluent pond with a device that emits radio waves and you\u2019d likely be met, at best, with scepticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a growing number of Canterbury farmers say locally developed technology that does just that is achieving remarkable results for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe decided to do a trial on one of our effluent ponds and in six weeks you could see the crust breaking up and in 10 weeks it had pretty much cleared,\u201d Brendon Stent, who oversees P\u0101mu\u2019s five Canterbury dairy farms, says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first effluent pond in the two-pond system on one of the farms hadn\u2019t been working well, with a thick crust forming on the surface and solids that should have been settling to the bottom getting into the pipe that links it to the second pond and blocking it regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe guys were leaning out to stick pipes through to it unblock it, which is a health and safety risk, and when we went back to the designer, they said we needed to put gates out there to stop the solids building up. It just wasn\u2019t working.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HydroBoost co-owner Michael Dennis supplied the farm with a 24V unit that sits inside a raft that floats on the pond, emitting low frequency radio waves. He says these stimulate biological activity in the effluent and accelerate its breakdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before and after photos show a remarkable transformation.  On day one the pond is covered in a thick, green crust.  Sixty-three days later the crust has gone and in places bubbles rise to the surface, an indication, Dennis says, of the biological activity happening beneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want to ensure that I\u2019m helping to make this planet a bit better and this product got a lot of those ticks for me \u2013 it\u2019s low-powered, it\u2019s stimulating biological activity, we have proven customers, and it\u2019s built and developed in New Zealand,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve just seen one on farm \u2013 and I can tell you there are other farms like that where we\u2019re seeing the same sort of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The device was developed by retired farmer Michael Richards, who Dennis met at a South Island field day a couple of years ago, when he was promoting it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe spent 11 or 12 years developing it, put his own money into it, pretty much blood, sweat and tears, and now we\u2019re seeing the results. It uses radio energy and he did some research and started to put some things together.  Being a farmer he\u2019s resourceful,\u201d says Dennis, now a partner in the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked to explain how it works, Dennis quotes United States academic Dr Gerald Pollack who theorises that water has a \u201cfourth dimension\u201d, different from its liquid, solid or vapour forms,  and radio waves can unlock this dimension to create \u201cstructured water\u201d that has \u201csimilar energy and vitality as rainwater\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This \u201cactivated\u201d water is said to enhance bio-activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome people believe it, some people don\u2019t,\u201d says Dennis who also sells HydroBoost units to treat water.  He\u2019s used to getting sceptical reactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe did an installation in July on a farm down south and I knew one of the people with the installers.  I said, \u2018This thing is going to help clean that pond up\u2019, and he was looking at the unit and said, \u2018That\u2019s really interesting\u2019, but behind his eyes you could see he was thinking, \u2018Run away now Michael, don\u2019t embarrass yourself\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI saw him again about five weeks later and he said, \u2018I didn\u2019t believe you, I didn\u2019t think it would work, but what I\u2019ve seen now is one of the most innovative pieces of technology I\u2019ve seen in the last 15 years\u2019.  He was really super-impressed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unit on the P\u0101mu dairy farm, including the raft, cost about $9400 including GST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one tool, it\u2019s not the magic bullet, but it\u2019s one tool that helps make a difference,\u201d says Dennis. \u201cIt actually has solved definite problems, it\u2019s not just a nice-to-have, it\u2019s something that\u2019s working.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article first appeared in the October edition of our sister publication, Dairy Farmer<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A floating device uses low frequency radio waves to help clean up effluent systems.\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":75520,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"HydroBoost co-owner Michael Dennis says the device stimulates biological activity in the effluent and accelerates its breakdown by using low frequency soundwaves.","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[190],"tags":[134,110],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t