US company Riverscreen builds a range of self-cleaning suction filters for irrigation and dirty water pumps. The fine-meshed barrel screen is kept clean and free of weed and debris thanks to four cleaning jets which blast water out from the inside.
At the same time, a further four jets on the outside rotate the whole drum. Both are powered by a clean water feed from the main irrigation pump that screen is supplying. UK distributor Magna Produce says there are a number of advantages to the set-up – primarily it minimises downtime, avoiding blockages so that the irrigator is kept running all of the time.
In addition, the unit significantly reduces the ingress of dirt and sand into the pump avoiding unnecessary wear and tear. Critically the 2mm mesh screen means wildlife isn’t affected – eel and fish fry aren’t sucked up and minced by the pump.
Capable of working in water as shallow as 100mm, a 4in (100mm) feed unit retails at around £5,000 while one with 6in (150mm) pipework comes in at £7,000. There are versions capable of dealing with dirty water, digestate and low DM slurry.
