Harris Pumps & Filtration

Quentin Hunter of Kereru Station - the man with the plan.

Harris Pumps and Filtration Hot, dry summers and water shortages are major problems facing Hawke’s Bay farmers most years. Danny Angland and Quentin Hunter of Kereru Station had another one; areas of productive land that lacked a sustainable water supply during the dry season. They knew this wasn’t good for farm profitability. The solution was ingeniously simple, but until recent years, impossible without advancements to solar technology. Kereru Station sits at the foothills of the Ruahine Ranges. The farm had basic water reticulation, but with the purchase of additional land, Danny and Quentin needed to get it productive as soon as possible. As the farm had a large dam, they discussed reticulation and pumping options. The traditional pumping solution for remote off-grid areas is to install a diesel generator to power any pumps drawing water from a source to a holding tank. Harris Pumps & Filtration were called in to scope the project. It soon became apparent a traditional system came with daunting problems: getting fuel to the pumping station, setting up a maintenance regime, as well as serious health and safety issues resulting from the lack of all-weather access to the site.

At that moment, Quentin saw the light—literally—the big, round, yellow one up in the sky. So he said, “Why don’t we try solar?”

While the sun is a farmer’s friend, and indeed a friend to all life, the idea harks back to a winning military strategy; to use an enemy’s strength to your advantage.The plan followed that principle: to take advantage of the hot summer sun—the very reason the land was unproductive during the dry season—and use it to pump up to 30,000 litres of water per day.

Getting water from sunlight sounds like something from science fiction, but Harris Pumps & Filtration had been keeping up to date with advances to solar technology. They knew the cost of solar equipment had dropped to a point where it had become a viable, cost-effective option.

Harris Pumps & Filtration reviewed the design and found a solution that would fit within Kereru Station’s budget. The project went ahead with solar panels and a Lorentz pump engineered to fit into a proven, tidy and secure installation. From day one, water flow exceeded everyone’s expectations without a need to rely on batteries. The system uses eight solar panels to power the pump and meet daily flow requirements during daylight hours.

The result: a low maintenance installation that delivers water from sunlight. It even has a Smart Water solar level indicator to relay real-time information back to the office. How’s that for being sun smart?

 

Glorious view from Kereru Station looking back over the solar pump system and beyond.

The pump headworks in the dam.

The panels that power the system.