On-Farm Water Management.

Water that works for your farm.

Water on a farm is never just one thing. It’s your irrigation consent, your effluent system, soil moisture data and drinking water supply. When any of those elements are off, the whole system feels it. We bring the science and the fieldwork together, combining data from sensors and soil with boots on the ground across your farm, to find what’s actually happening and fix it properly.

What we do.

From assessment to design to compliance. Good on-farm water management starts with understanding what your system is actually doing – not what it should be doing on paper. We get out on the farm, take the measurements, run the analysis and build solutions that keep working season after season. Irrigation, effluent, drinking water, we cover the full picture.

Irrigation performance assessment.

We go beyond bucket testing to find the root causes of underperformance: pressure, nozzle wear, distribution and system design. Farmers regularly find savings in water use and operating costs once the full picture is clear.

Bucket testing.

A quick, practical measure of irrigator output. Useful as a seasonal check before irrigation season starts and as the starting point for identifying where a deeper performance assessment is needed.

Irrigation system design.

Design of new systems and upgrades across spray, drip, pivot and border-dyke irrigation. We’ve designed schemes of all scales from single farms to large irrigation networks. Built to work in the paddock.

Soil moisture monitoring.

Telemetered sensors give you real-time root zone data, accessible from any device via myIrrigation. Aqualinc’s own scheduling tool developed with SCADAfarm. Less guesswork, more precision, fewer drainage events.

Irrigation scheme support.

Independent advice on scheme demand, supply and storage. Feasibility studies, peer review, scheme design and consenting that connects on-farm water management to the wider scheme picture.

Effluent storage and discharge design.

Storage ponds, discharge systems and land application areas designed to meet consent requirements and work with your farming system. We wrote the DairyNZ Code of Practice. We know this space from the ground up.

Pond leakage testing.

Field testing of effluent pond integrity, including synthetically lined ponds where leakage isn’t always visible. Provides the evidence needed for consent applications and renewals.

Effluent performance assessment.

Checking that your system is operating as designed and meeting consent conditions. Not just at installation, but as part of ongoing farm environmental plan compliance.

Effluent consent support.

Managing new discharge consents, renewals and changes of conditions. We know what councils look for and we handle the process with you from start to finish.

Small drinking water supply.

Taumata Arowai compliance support for farms, marae, lodges and rural facilities. SWRMA delineation, water safety plan preparation, risk assessment and ongoing compliance under the Water Services Act 2021.

Every water challenge starts with a conversation.

Tell us what you’re working on and we’ll connect you with the right person.

Get in touch

Who we work with.

Farmers and growers are at the centre of this service. Dairy, sheep and beef, arable and horticulture. We also work with rural property owners, lodge and accommodation operators, marae, and anyone responsible for a small drinking water supply outside the main network. We work directly with property owners and farm managers, and we’re regularly brought in alongside farm consultants and agribusiness advisors.

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How we approach it.

We wrote the DairyNZ Code of Practice for Effluent Management – so when we talk about on-farm water systems, we’re not working from general principles. Data and dirty hands: our scientists and engineers take the measurements, run the analysis and then go out and do the work. That combination of rigorous science and practical field experience means we diagnose problems others miss, and build solutions that keep working long after we’ve left the farm.

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“After a recent purchase of an extra block of land we needed to go through an audit process with our Irrigation Scheme in order to allow a change of land use. To achieve this we needed to secure an A+ audit result. We achieved this, due in large part to the fact we had Aqualinc soil moisture measurement systems in place and could prove that we were using these to optimise our irrigation management and ensure no irrigation-related drainage events.”

Ian Thornton, Ealing Dairies Ltd

Related services

Resource Consents & Compliance.

Our on-farm water management services cover irrigation performance, effluent and farm water systems.

Groundwater Management.

From aquifer testing and monitoring to complex numerical modelling. We build the complete picture of what's happening below the surface and what it means for users, regulators and the environment.

Water Modelling & Hydrology.

Hydrological assessments, catchment modelling, flood and drought analysis. The science that underpins good water management decisions at every scale – from a single farm crossing to a regional catchment.