As Processed waste, known as ‘cake’, is a by-product of sewage treatment works (STWs). It is of great value to farmers as nitrogen-rich fertiliser, but the level of nitrogen content varies widely between STWs. It is in the interest of both Water Company and Farmer to ensure the maximum allowable amount of nitrogen is delivered and applied to each farm.
Codegate was awarded a contract to develop a mobile based solution to monitor and to record the nitrogen content, delivery and spread of cake from STW to field.
Data is collected by the Stock-piler and Spreader using a Panasonic Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) with touch screen technology. All on-screen controls were sized to be ‘finger friendly’. Collected data is sent back to the server automatically, with the ‘store and forward’ architecture designed to cope with intermittent losses of GPRS connection. GPS tracking and spread rate data are used to optimise the local spreading yields and store an accurate record for each farm against permitted levels. The resulting improvements in STW cake dispersals meant the company achieved payback within one year of deployment.
