Safe effluent systems
Farm safety and accident prevention should be the highest priority on the farm, ensuring the farm surrounds are as safe as possible; for workers, children, visitors, livestock and pets.
Dairy effluent systems can be hazardous if they are poorly designed and managed. Sumps and Solids Traps These structures contain liquid and are usually steep sided, therefore they should either be covered with safety grating or be surrounded by a safety fence including locking gate to exclude children, pets and livestock.
If young children live on the farm or visit, the construction of a fence and gate to swimming pool surrounds standards may be warranted. Ponds Dairy effluent ponds have the potential to be extremely hazardous to children, farm operators, pets and livestock and every effort should be made to make them safe.
The water depth in ponds can range from 1 metre to 6 metres, which is more than enough to pose as a drowning hazard. Effluent ponds even though usually constructed with internal batter slopes of 2:1 or 3:1, can on occasions have steeper internal batters of 1:1, depending on where the pond has been sited.
Quite often ponds that are poorly managed form a crust of solid-looking material, which develops on the surface of a pond. This surface can often grow weeds, grasses and even small saplings in some cases, giving an illusion of a stable surface.
Any maintenance or desludging on the pond should be conducted under extreme caution as unstable and narrow banks may collapse under the weight of machinery.
Pond stirrer and power take off driven pumps must also be guarded. It may also be advisable to choke wheelers as the constant vibration of machinery may cause it to move closer to the ponds edge.
Farm children and employees need to be made aware of the hazards of effluent ponds and particular attention needs to be paid to warning visiting children. Ponds should be fenced as soon as construction has been completed to minimise the risk to young children and stock.
Appropriate signs warning of deep water or showing relevant hazard symbols are also warranted. Signs are available from safety equipment suppliers. Flood wash systems Recycling effluent water from a multiple pond system back to flood wash tanks is a common recommendation as it significantly reduces the storage pond volume, as well as provides a reliable water source.
However, recycling effluent water from sumps, trafficable solid traps and even smaller single pond is not encouraged. This recycled effluent is usually a poorer quality and tends to promote slime and algae deposits on yards creating a slippery surface for stock and operators. Pumps The management of dairy effluent quite often requires some type of pumping system to enable effluent and the nutrients it contains to be return to pastures.
The pump selected and where it will be located will vary significantly depending on the farm layout and how effluent is managed. Human health Dairy effluent should not be a threat to human health, provided appropriate hygienic practices are carried out when working in a high manure environment. These include not smoking, eating or drinking whilst in the dairy shed and washing hands and clothing after the completion of the task. Effluent Management Plans The development of an Effluent Management Plan to assist the farm operation manage dairy effluent is recommended. The plan provides specific technical and management options relevant to individual farm ensuring a productive and safe utilisation of dairy effluent.