Automatic Success in Irrigation
December 10, 2010
City of Santa Maria, California
Problem:
Suspended particles in well water can be a big problem when it comes to clogging sprinkler heads and creating buildup on pipe walls. Dirty water can lead to equipment failure and forced downtime.
This is the problem that Alex Posada was responsible for solving. Posada is the Director of Recreation & Parks for the City of Santa Maria, California. The challenge before him was to reduce particulate matter from a well at a local recreation open-space park.
“Water being pumped from the well had a significant amount of mineral and soil debris contamination giving the water a cloudy appearance. It was leaving
heavy residue deposits in our pipe lines, water troughs and water tanks.” said Posada.
Solution:
The City of Santa Maria installed a Forsta B2-90 self- cleaning water filter to help remove particles from the well water. The filter’s compact design made installation easy, and the backwash controller now allows the system to be fully automatic, eliminating the need for frequent maintenance.
The 50 micron multi-layer screen traps suspended particles, and expels them when buildup occurs. The point-of-suction backwash cycle cleans the screen without interrupting the system flow. Filtered water is continually supplied to the park’s irrigation system, even when the filter is cleaning itself.
“We are satisfied with the filter we have and it seems to be working well for our application.” Posada said of the Forsta self-cleaning water filter.
When asked about working with Forsta Filters and Application Engineer Eran Fischer, Posada replied, “Eran was very helpful in following up with my emails and our installers got good tech support while installing the system. I would say our experience was very good.”