Groundwater Treatment
Pincher Creek, Alberta, Canada
Excessive fecal matter from cattle herds can affect local groundwater, making it unhealthy for the cattle and other animals.
Overview
- Improved surface water quality
- Improved health for livestock
- Healthy water for downstream interactions
The ecoStory
Mitchell Bros. is determined to provide the best possible product to the community; therefore, they raise a grass-finished, antibiotic and hormone free herd. They eat their natural diet of prairie grass and pure spring water. The animals live a stress-free life of roaming and grazing our 1000 acres of top-quality native fescue.
Our rangeland is managed as a natural ecosystem. We move cattle around to mimic natural grazing patterns of wildlife while protecting areas of new growth for future grazing.
Notwithstanding our management practices, fecal matter is transported into the natural streams through snowmelt and rainwater runoff. By mid-summer, the dugout and ponds begin to form algae blooms, indicating insufficient oxygen levels to remove the build-up of organic matter naturally.
The desire is to stimulate natural processes so that the surface water will remain healthy throughout the year.
The ecoProject
The ecoProject is designed to create an environment to maximize natural processes within the surface water so that any excess fecal matter will be quickly consumed by bacterial action.
The ecoProject is designed to create an environment to maximize natural processes within the surface water so that any excess fecal matter will be quickly consumed by bacterial action. Specifically, we will:
- Raise the level of the main pond, thereby maintaining a larger body of water that will be better able to handle any fecal matter entering the system.
- Build a natural portalock system on the hillside above the pond. This will replicate the biological processes inherent in a fast-moving mountain stream. The purpose will be to infuse the water with oxygen and allow calming areas where bacteria can digest the organic matter.
- There will be two sources of water for this stream. First, we will pump water from the main pond to the first chamber of the portalock system. Secondly, we will divert water from some of the natural springs in the area. These measures will give ample flow to the stream.
- A High Impact Oxygen System (HIOS) attached to the pump will be used to increase the Dissolved oxygen levels in the water.
- A frequency generator in the main pond will also release oxygen and stimulate bacterial action.
- A long section of the stream will be set aside to give the cattle access to treated water for drinking while carrying away carrying their fecal matter back into the treatment system.
