Cranwest Farms

Reliable Controls Authorized Dealer Lange Installations implemented a Reliable Controls system at Cranwest Farms to control the pump stations for an elaborate underground water-management system. Water from the nearby Fraser River provides irrigation for spring and summer and water for the fall harvest, when the crops are flooded and the berries beaten mechanically from the vines. When they float to the surface, the berries are skimmed, collected on trucks, and taken to Ocean Spray for processing. Pumps range in size from 20 to 250 horsepower.

Dotted around the 300-acre farm are 12 pump stations, each of which employs MS/TP topology to broadcast data via wireless bridges to two sector antennas installed on a 48-foot tower at the center of the property. A 5.8 GHz radio-frequency backhaul link connects all stations to the operator workstation in the central tower.

The Reliable Controls system at Cranwest Farms is unique in its use of wireless dual-protocol IP radio-frequency segments to link remote pump-station controllers to a central station for monitoring and control. The new system reduced stress for farm staff, especially during the critical frost-protection stage of the growing cycle. They can now monitor operations off-site, as the system emails alerts and alarm messages.