Tucks Winery, Victoria.

This was one of our first major commercial installations and the brief was close to our heart.

Working closely with the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and in symmetry with the current owners of this excellent vineyard, we sized, designed and quoted a system which fulfilled the management’s objectives of efficiently processing its wastes whilst at the same time reducing running costs, lessening environmental impact and furthering goals of sustainability.

It was important for the owners to have their vineyard recognised for its natural environmentally-friendly status.

We installed a 7000 litre concrete tank and retro-fitted the internal system on site. The vent pipe was diverted in order to avoid visual disruption from the nearby restaurant and a low-wattage but powerful Davey 75 pump was installed to dispatch water 120 metres, up a slight rise, to the pebble clarifier.

From here, a manual flush valve controls flow into a long soakage trench, water gravity feeding a 30 sqm sand filter which has been intentionally fitted with one solid wall to protect nearby trees. The filtered water then passes through a second inline filter, via a pressure-controlled 6-way distribution valve, into six 350 sqm areas of pressure compensating irrigation; an extensive network providing 2100 sqm of clean irrigation in total.

In the process of installation, we decommissioned three old tanks and levelled the remaining terrain. We arranged all electrical work and connection to existing plumbing. The vineyard owners painted the vent pipe and subsequently built a wooden bench (with access lid) across the top of the tank.

Visitors to the winery often sit and relax on this bench, blissfully unaware of the WormSmart system working silently beneath them.