Pit and Lagoon Monitoring

When animal waste lagoons experience a breach, major environmental implications occur. Fines and costs skyrocket.

In one case, a lagoon ruptured due to weather conditions. The failure to monitor levels resulted in 25 million gallons of liquid swine waste entering a nearby river and its estuary. It affected miles of rivers, resulting in fish kills and algae blooms. The state’s division of environmental management discussed $10,000 fines upon the farm for every violation found.

Measuring & Monitoring Lagoons is Key for Overfill Prevention
Government regulations regarding animal waste management are stringent. While most in the industry are vigilant with management of pits and waste lagoons, environmental and other factors make oversight a challenge. The costs of a mistake could put an operation at severe risk to the point of bankruptcy.

Automated Waste Management & Alert Systems
The case for applying technology is a solid one. Animal waste automation makes it easier to comply with regulations. Sensors like compact non-contact radars can alert agricultural managers to high levels of animal waste in their lagoon.

Automated alerts are sent to the staff via text or email to know when it`s time to empty pits, allowing for proactive scheduling of equipment and manpower. This reduces the risk of spills or breaches. Plus, exportable measurement history streamlines report preparation.

Boosting Oversight While Reducing Labor
By employing BinMaster sensors and software, staff can reduce trips to the lagoon to monitor levels.

In fact, more oversight of lagoon levels can be enabled as reports are easily found on any PC or mobile device connected to the internet.

Reliable Waste Monitoring Equipment for Lagoons
A BinMaster compact radar level sensor performs with consistent, high accuracy in challenging environments, thanks to their rugged enclosures with imperviousness to dust and weather extremes. If the lagoon gets choppy or wind bounces the sensor, the software will average measurements. Battery-powered CNCR-300 sensors are ideal if there is no electrical service available at the lagoon.

Non-contact radar sensors measure pit and lagoon livestock waste at distances up to 98 feet. Sensors work reliably in turbulence or foam. The flood-proof IP66/68 enclosure ensures maintenance-free, continuous operation.

When used in lagoons, posts are mounted on either side of the pit. The sensor is mounted on a bracket attached to taut wires. Another mounting option is suspending the sensor on a boom arm that is attached to a post.

Where PitView® Software Comes into Play
Making historical data useful is the next step of automating pit measurements. Data from the sensor is processed in the cloud and sent to BinMaster`s remote monitoring platform, PitView®.

Each site and sensor location is uniquely named on PitView`s reports. The software can incorporate multiple locations to view levels on all sites at once. In the app, users can also set up alert conditions and time intervals for measurement frequency. If an alarm is triggered, designated staff automatically receive a text or email, allowing them to intervene before a breach occurs.

Reports can be run on demand for specified date ranges. All staff—both on or off the farm—can access the same current data to speed up and simplify decision making.

BinMaster`s Complete Solutions for Lagoon and Pit Management
Know how much waste is available in order to arrange for the equipment and manpower to manage application sites. PitView and radar sensors let farmers plan application sites and schedule trucks in advance.

PitView can also be added to BinMaster’s FeedView® cloud application to monitor levels in feed bins, pits, and lagoons—all in one easy-to-use program.