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Poultry Farms And Rainwater
Rainwater harvesting helps poultry farms reduce
water dependency, save money
A new system for harvesting and storing rainwater from
poultry barns provides birds with high quality water while reducing the
grower’s dependency on local wells and municipal water systems.
A typical broiler farm with four
poultry houses uses an estimated 1.8 to 2 million gallons of water per year
with costs up to $22,000 annually from a municipal water system.
According to Gene Simpson,
Alabama Cooperative Extension System and associate director of Auburn
University’s National Poultry Technology Center, rainwater harvesting has the
potential to reduce those water bills by as much as $16,000 and pay for itself
in 7-8 years.
The harvesting system utilizes a
gutter system to funnel rainwater from poultry-house roofs into a 100-foot by
36-foot flexible bladder.
A 2-inch rainfall on the 82,000 square feet of roof space
on four poultry barns would fill the bladder to its 100,000-gallon capacity.
The water is then filtered
multiple times, including an ultraviolet light filter that kills any bacteria,
producing water with excellent quality free from contaminants.
A control room pumps the collected water to the houses
as needed and automatically switches over to municipal water in the event of an
emergency.
Simpson believes harvesting
rainwater could help producers reduce their municipal water bills by as much as
90%, making it a strong option for growers who have high water rates, low
availability of well water or water with significant quality issues.
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