There are two things Bruce and Donna Arnold would change if they could about their newly installed effluent pond – build it earlier and remove the tree.

Other than that, they are happy with their $232,599 investment on the Hauraki Plains, even though it may have cost only $150,000 had they built it in 2008 when they first considered the idea.

The Brudon Farm effluent pond is lined with rubber.

'Trees are important on our farm and when the digger driver said he could work round the one near the pond site, we decided to leave it, but with hindsight, removing it would have given us more room around the pond,” Bruce told those who attended a seminar at the Waikato Effluent Expo in March.

Bruce and Donna were asked to address two seminars at the Waikato Regional Council-organised expo to give a farmer's perspective of the process they went through to build the 7000 m3 pond to cope with effluent from 600 cows on their Brudon Farms property.
The farm is high input, with cows fed maize and palm kernel on a stand-off pad in addition to pasture, and milked through a 50 bale rotary. Before the pond was installed, effluent was applied to the pasture 365 days of the year in what Bruce said was a high risk system, should something go wrong or heavy rain prevent irrigation.
In 2008 the Arnolds investigated the costs of building an effluent pond but the $150,000 price put the project on hold.
'In take two in 2010, I decided to do some homework and talk to farmers with ponds and attend the first effluent expo at Mystery Creek.”

Finally, with expert advice, they decided to build a 50x50x4 m2 7000 m3 pond with a solid separator, irrigators and pumps.
The pond is lined with rubber. 'We wanted something that was fool proof and as the pond would be empty at times, we felt lining it with clay wouldn't work because it would dry out and crack.”
Because the water table on the farm near Morrinsville is high, extra fill had to be brought in. Work began in November last year and by February the pond was fully operational with irrigators spreading effluent on 53 ha. 'We plan to go up to another 50ha.”
Solids from the pond are removed and spread as additional fertiliser on part of a maize paddock.

Now the pond is complete, running costs have increased the farm's power account by around $300-$400 per month but Bruce said, that aside, the pond has brought important benefits to the farming operation.
'Having the pond means we have enough storage not to have to irrigate during calving. The system is foolproof, easy to run and has eliminated the risks of run off. It's brought complete peace of mind.”