Solar Power Water Drinkers

If you’re a land owner or manage land with a combination of livestock and waterways on it, you’ll understand how important it is to keep the two separate. Not only do livestock aggravate river bank erosion and consequently habitats, but rural diffuse pollution is ‘the most common factor preventing rivers and other water bodies from achieving good ecological status, affecting 40% of them’ as the Environment Audit Comittee – Water quality in rivers report 2021-22 tells us.

However, water sources are vital to the wellbeing of your livestock, and so we knew a solution was needed to allow successful separation. This is how, 15 years ago, we ended up developing a battery powered solar water pump.

This easy, reliable, self sufficient and transportable solution pumps river water straight to a desired drinker, allowing you to effectively fence off and cater for a variety of livestock types and volumes. We’ve worked with Hotline horizont group to develop the solution to ensure it’s durability in the elements, as well as integrating easily with all standard water troughs and negating the need to re-train animals.

We’re proud to say that these solar drinkers are now providing a solution to livestock farmers and trusts across the world, as well as supporting Natural England and the Catchment Sensitive Farming initiative (CSF) to improve water quality and the growth of healthy native flora and fauna.

How does it work?

The simple pump system allows for the movement of large volumes of water from your water source to the attached trough. The flow of water is triggered via a float switch which triggers the pump, powered by a 12v battery which is recharged using 60w solar panels.

The kit can be scaled up based on your demands, adding additional solar panels to ensure the pump can cater for larger volume usage. Water requirements can vary due to a number of reasons: temperature, humidity, feed source, livestock type and volume etc, so make sure to talk to us or Hotline if you need any further information or clarification on your needs. As an example, for 4 hours run time per day we would recommend 3 x 60w solar panels, but the run time required would completely depend upon demand needs.