Réussir Porc #269 - 06/2019 (France)

The chambers of agriculture of Brittany and the lFIP (the French Pork Institute) tested a dosing pump connected to data analysis software in order to monitor and record the treatments carried out with drinking water.

The Ifip and the chambers of agriculture of Brittany, France used Dosatron's SmartDosing connected hydraulic proportional dosing pump. The dosing pump takes a volume of stock solution from the mixing tank and injects it into the water system (the water flow is used as driving force). The emphasis here is on dosing accuracy, which is proportional between 1% and 5%. It is doubly controlled by a pulse water meter at the line entrance and by the motor pump sensor. The quantity of treatment injected is thus available in real time. The dosing pump then records the administered treatments and the Smart Link software analyzes the collected data. The data transfer is done via a USB key. A dashboard on the computer summarizes monthly the events related to the operation of the pump and to the treatments carried out.

Clicking on an event then gives access to the name of the treatment, the start and end times of the treatment, the room concerned, the volume of water consumed, the volume of treatment injected, the dosage, the temperature variations, the reasons for stopping and the water consumption curve.

Facilitate daily monitoring

Scheduling of the treatments can be carried out. A PDF summary of the treatment operations carried out in the room concerned can be added to the treatment register. This treatment history improves traceability and facilitates follow-up during quality audits. A selection of alarms is available to check the proper operation of the pump and warn of a need for maintenance (change of seals after one million motor cycles). A "low tank level" alert warns when the treatment is coming to an end. Incidents such as backflow in the tank, motor stop, treatment injection problem, no water supply or an overflow coming from a leak in the water system are available. The volumes of water consumed by the animals can be monitored as well as the quantity of treatment injected on a time base. Knowledge of the exact water consumption on curves makes it possible to identify the ideal time for treatment, particularly in the case of vaccination. It is possible to connect water meters in front of each room to anticipate the preparation of a the treatment stock solution according to the water consumption of the previous day.

Dosatron announces future developments, with a wired connection to the computer for data transfer, integration of the water pipe priming volume tracking, stock solution preparation calculators and a data exploitation tool with dynamic crossovers.