Assessment of evaporation rate of RemDry® effluent management systems installed at different latitudes

The appropriate management of remnant waste water from sprayer cleaning and spray mixture remnants is considered the most important way to mitigate pollution from point sources. The main drivers that could encourage a wide adoption of effluent management systems in the near future are linked to the use flexibility and user friendliness, alongside cost-effectiveness for the farmer. Recently, the RemDry® system was developed as an easy to use system for the on-farm management of waste liquids containing Plant Protection Products (PPP) residues. The RemDry® is based on the dehydration principle and it is proposed as a feasible alternative to the Heliosec®, already available in the market, for the small/medium farms thanks to the reduced cost for the farmer while maintaining high standard security. Similarly, to the Heliosec® the contaminated water evaporates, dry pesticide residues are left on the liner and disposed of through specialised companies as a hazardous waste. In order to evaluate RemDry® performance, a RemDry® unit was installed next to the reference Heliosec® tank at three different locations-latitudes, corresponding to North European (Belgium), Central European (Northern Italy) and South European (Greece) conditions. In all locations the daily evaporation rate was measured through graduated gauges installed inside both systems and the main environmental conditions (air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and rainfall) were monitored using weather stations. RemDry® system showed at all latitudes no significant differences in evaporation performance compared to Heliosec®; and in some cases, higher evaporation rate was determined. A lower evaporation efficiency was detected in Belgium (major latitude) when compared to that obtained in Greece. Nevertheless, the difference in evaporation rate efficiency between Northern and Southern Europe locations was equal to 26%. Experimental results obtained could help end-users to foresee the RemDry® final evaporation performance and compare it to their needs. At the same time, it has been shown that RemDry® is a feasible and effective solution to managing waste liquids containing PPP residues in an easy and cost-effective way. RemDry® being a mobile system has the advantage to not require a concrete surface or any permanent use of farm land, making it attractive and with potential to be widespread in the near future especially on small farms.