Veldonas offers customised pump systems, which can be paired with technological control equipment, for a wide variety of farming needs
It’s often said that no two farming operations are ever the same, and Melbourne-based pump supplier and water management equipment business Veldonas knows this all too well.
A large portion of its customers come from the agricultural sector, and while Veldonas’ headquarters are in the western suburb of Sunshine, it serves farmers all over the country, with varying climates.
This means its customers can often have different needs, with custom-built solutions being of the highest importance.
It’s why Veldonas builds custom units and systems to order, ensuring it works accordingly to specific requests of its clients.
“Every job is different, so we can assist our customers in understanding their requirements,” Veldonas director Gatis Gregors says.
“We’ll ask questions about what flow rates and discharge arrangements they have, including pressures, and then we can come up with a solution.”
Veldonas often receives enquiries from farmers about various types of equipment including diesel and electric pump sets, diesel engines, as well as repower units, to name a few.
Spare parts are also an often-hot commodity, with Veldonas supplying components for engines, generator sets, its wide range of pump systems and fittings for pump sets, such as discharge hoses, suction hoses, manifolds, bends, pipes, and foot valves.
The importance of building to specific requirements is not understated.
“A variety of factors can dictate the type of equipment that would be best suited to the customer,” Gregors says.
“There are things like the discharge, how far it must be pumped through, what sort of size pipe it must be pumped through, and what distance it must be pumped.”
Custom builds
With close to three decades of experience, Veldonas can build solutions for a variety of complex tasks.
“For long distances, say four or five kilometres through small pipe – we normally build helical rotor pumps as a particular solution,” Gregors says.
“We can offer volume transfer pumps from four to 36 inches. These are high volume and are discharged over a very short distance.”
Of the varying types of pumps Veldonas offers, Gregors says farmers often require irrigation, frost control, effluent, fire control and pressure systems.
This can be complemented by Veldonas’ control equipment, which again can differ depending on the customer’s requirements.
Greater control
For diesel equipment, Gregors says control equipment can include an oil and temperature watchdog, which protects the engine from lower pressure and high temperature, while other units may require timing, automatic start/stop and phone start/stop systems.
This ability enables customers to remotely operate their equipment and have greater control of its operation – something Gregors says can be particularly important for farmers in bushfire season when physical access is limited.
“Farmers can have a fire control pump set in Victoria and can start and stop it from other states if a fire is encroaching on their property,” Gregors says.
“Our fire control units are essential for farmers – they have been able to protect properties and buildings from damage.
“We often supply units that are connected with existing water sources on a farm to a unit that can actually distribute water around building assets, like the farmhouse itself, but also equipment sheds, and they protect farm assets.”
Control equipment technology isn’t limited to just fire control pumps though. Instead, a variety of technologies can be integrated onto Veldonas’ pump systems.
Combatting frost
Frost control pumps, spreading water to combat frost conditions, are another offering that can benefit from this.
“It’s counterintuitive in that you’d expect pumping water on to frost conditions would cause it to freeze, but it actually doesn’t,” Gregors says.
“If you pump water on to crops and so on, when there are frost conditions, it stops frost from forming on the crops.”
Gregors adds farmers can pair frost control pumps with timer units to pump water through an irrigation system when frost is anticipated.
“The pump will operate in the period of time you would expect the frost to exist and will turn itself off after the time designated,” he says.
“During a radiation frost, crops are continuously sprayed with water above the canopy, that turns to ice. The freezing process releases latent heat which creates a micro climate and warms the air near the trees. For every 1 gram of water, 80 calories of energy is released. In addition, a thin layer of ice is created on the leaves that continually forms and melts so that water inside the plant cells will not freeze and the air surrounding the plant will not drop significantly below freezing point.”
Solar pumps are also offered, including the pump set, solar panels and the control equipment.
Irrigation pumps
Irrigation is another key speciality of the business, designing units for farmers wanting to distribute water through electric and diesel driven pumps.
“We offer irrigation units, so in relation to irrigation pumps, we can combine the pump with irrigators,” Gregors says.
“We can supply packages that allow people to pump water and also distribute it, whether it’s sprinkler units, hard hose or soft hose irrigators, and pivots.”
Effluent pumps
For dairy farmers, effluent is often required to be discharged from farms either physically or by being pumped into the field.
This can be achieved through Veldonas’ effluent pumps, which Gregors says macerate the effluent that comes from cows and is often stored in ponds.
“By macerating the material with a chopper device that cuts it all up, the effluent can be distributed by irrigation equipment, onto the farm,” Gregors says.
“Dairy farms are normally required to have a system like that or have the capacity to have their effluent removed.
“These pumps are fairly sophisticated, but we’ve been supplying them for a good 30 years, and they’ve been very popular with our customers.”
Diesel engines
In addition to its various pumps, Veldonas offers diesel engines for various types of farm equipment, including generators, pump sets and even tractors.
This can come in the form of new, as well as second-hand options. Supporting many different brands, Gregors says the second-hand engines are imported from Japan and have been used for a low number of hours.
With many farmers being conscious of their carbon emissions, Gregors adds Veldonas’ new engines produce lower greenhouse gas emissions than other options and its second-hand options can be considered carbon neutral.
“By choosing a second-hand engine, customers are reusing a piece of equipment, rather than it being remanufactured, so it’s a recycled piece of equipment in its second life,” he says.
“That’s something to consider in terms of greenhouse emissions, because they’re reused and have got low hours.”
For more information on Veldonas’ offering, visit veldonas.com.au or call 03 9312 0888.
