High pressure cleaning in cowsheds
The need to observe a high standard of hygiene in livestock farming has made the high-pressure washer an indispensable aid in the agro andrelated sectors.
What features should a high-pressure washer have in order to be suitable for use in farming? One of the main points is the delivery rate of the high-pressure pump. It should not be less than 800 litres per hour (3.5 GPM), the minimum flow rate required to flush away the dislodged dirt.
There are a large number of high-pressure washer models available today: Portable, mobile, stationary, cold & hot water, hot, electric and gasoline units. Presently, most farms are using electric mobile cold water units. However, the share of hot water high-pressure washers is growing steadily as it shortens the cleaning time, improves results and effectively reduces the germ count before actual disinfection.
Portable pressure washers are used almost exclusively as back-up units or by part-time farmers, because of their relatively low capacity. Stationary plants are mainly of interest to large farms with livestock. Their advantage is the short setting-up times. Take-off points in all those places where they are needed provide “high-pressure straight out of the wall”. As modern plants allow all functions to be remotely controlled, the high-pressure unit can be installed away from the washing bay in a separate room where it is protected from moisture, dirt and mechanical damage. Stationary plants also offer a number of benefits as far as hygiene is concerned since they practically exclude the risk of transmitting germs.
The choice of the right accessories is almost as important as the decision to buy a specific machine model. Fan-jet nozzles are used for cleaning large areas and applying detergents and disinfectants, while solid pencil-jet nozzles provide a very good dirt dissolving action. The advantages of both types of nozzles are combined in the triple and vario nozzles. The rotary nozzle, which is basically a pencil jet that rotates at high speed, is suitable for cleaning heavily soiled surfaces that are not sensitive to high pressure. Recent innovative developments in fan and rotary nozzles have appeared on the market which boost the cleaning performance of a high-pressure washer by up to 125% for a comparatively small outlay.
High pressures have also come to play a major role in cowshed maintenance, says Walter Klein, Target Group Manager-Agriculture, Karcher GmbH. In an e-interview with CIJ, Walter shares his expertise in using high pressure in cowsheds. Excerpts:
What are the various types of equipment for cowshed cleaning?
Before starting to pressure wash a cowshed, you should give the slatted floor a rough preliminary clean. This is done either manually with slat scrapers or, in modern cattle sheds, with battery-powered shed cleaners. Next, clean the shed with a cold-water pressure washer with a high flushing capacity – a water flow rate of between 1,600 and 2,500 litres per hour depending on the size of shed. Note that powerful pressure washers usually require a three-phase power connection with a 400V / 3Ph / 50Hz rating. Usually, sheds are deep cleaned once or twice a year and disinfected after cleaning.
The disinfectant solution can also be dispensed with the aid of a pressure washer.
Which areas of a cowshed must be cleaned?
It is especially important to clean the cubicles where the animals spend most of their time. Dividing walls, feeding barriers, drinking and feed troughs, cow mattresses and rubber mats must also be cleaned regularly and thoroughly. Airing devices such as ventilators are also cleaned with a pressure washer on a low pressure setting, using a low volume of water. Hygiene requires special attention in calving and sick bays, so they are cleaned and disinfected all the time. In addition to the calving and sick bay, the areas requiring special attention to hygiene are those that are concerned with milk processing, in other words, the milking stand or the area around a milking robot if one is used.
Which accessories are useful for cleaning a cowshed?
Suitable accessories for cowshed cleaning are fan jet nozzles, dirt blasters, hard floor cleaners, spray lances of various lengths, a foam lance, detergents and disinfectants.
What are the other uses of this equipment in a milk-processing unit?
The milking stand should be cleaned twice a day with a pressure washer. Often, hot water pressure washers are used because hot water is better at dissolving fat or grease (e.g. from the milk) on the milking stand. It is also advisable to disinfect once a week and always to alternate between an alkaline and an acid disinfectant.
