Weeds and debris are always a top problem throughout the process of delivering irrigation water to our waterusers, particularly when it comes to the operation of the District’s more than 100 pumping plants. These pumping plants must be fed a constant supply of water that is free of large debris and weeds to ensure optimal pump performance and longevity. Typically, a steel “bar rack” is used to catch this material in front of the pumping plants which requires manual cleaning by Ditchriders. This manual cleaning can become very labor intensive during peak weed/debris times of year and often results in pumping plant outages due to the inability of the employee to keep up with the weed/debris load.
To combat these issues, the District has started an in-house traveling screen program to design, construct, and install automated traveling screens in front of high priority pumping plants. Designed and built in-house, these screens eliminate the need for constant attention from the Ditchrider to clean intake racks and maintain proper flow to the pumping plants. The result is a near elimination of pumping plant outages due to weeds/debris.
The District has taken a slightly different approach to the design and installation of our traveling screens. We orient our screens to discharge material in the upstream direction as opposed to the more typical downstream direction. This allows us to move the debris away from our pumping plant decks which are often too small for accumulation of material. Additionally, we are able to install these screens with little or no modifications or construction to the existing pumping plant structure or intake ditch.
