Redditch Borough Council has been responsible for
the care of the residents of Redditch since the dissolution of
Redditch Development Corporation in 1985. Redditch is a New Town,
designated in 1964, situated 15 miles south of Birmingham it was
designed to house the overspill from the city of Birmingham. It has a
population of almost 80,000 and over 38,000 properties within a
borough that has a diameter of 18 miles.
Dave Steele is Environmental Operational Services
Team Leader within the Street Cleansing department of the council.
Dave has worked within the council for over 30 years, the last 5 of
which have been specifically within the Street Cleansing department.
The town is a New Town designed to make the most efficient use of the
space available providing Dave with some interesting problems i.e.
there is 99 miles of hedgerows that require cutting by hand twice a
year and because of their inaccessible location alongside primary
paths that run through the various estates it's not possible to use
a flail hedge-cutter.
As a New Town, the road systems of Redditch were
designed with dual carriageways to allow rapid flow of large volumes
of traffic around the various districts and into the town centre,
whilst keeping fast moving vehicles separated from residential
streets.
To keep on top of highway weed problems, in August
2005 Redditch Borough Council purchased an EasySpray®
PKS (Pavement and Kerb CDA Sprayer) unit. This unit has now been
in continuous use for 8 years. The
EasySpray® PKS
is fitted to a Scarab Merlin street sweeper and forms part of
the integrated system that enables Redditch to both keep their
streets clean and weed-free. Eight years is a good time to assess if
the system is working and how it integrates into their weed control
system.
- A Scarab Merlin
sweeper equipped with a
EasySpray® PKS
unit controls weeds using BAYER's CDA
Vanquish on each road that it
sweeps, picking up say 80% of the worst weed problems in gullies and
kerbs.
- A Kawasaki Mule is
equipped with a sprayer fitted with a boom, hand lance and kerbside
nozzle. The specific role of this machine is to assist the
EasySpray® PKS
system to help control weed growth through the borough with
an application of glyphosate in the spring and in the autumn.
- Three members of the landscape team use
handheld CDA systems (Controlled Droplet Application) on and off
with other activities such as strimming and mowing through the
growing system. These are used around shrubs, trees and in areas
that are inaccessible to machinery.
The road-sweeper is making passes along highways
throughout the year, therefore equipping it with the ability to
control weeds was a natural next step. Rob Hamilton, the operator of
the Scarab, states that the
EasySpray® PKS
is serviced before the season commences and even after 85,000
miles it continues to be trouble free. Rob goes on to say that "it's
doing the job of two people, sweeping and weed control. It's an
easy and trouble-free system to use, because the EasySpray® PKS
cleans and primes itself. It's done over 85,000 miles of street
cleaning and weed control over the eight years and although it's
looking a little old it still works brilliantly. We're extremely
happy with the system."
Dave Steele says that the cost savings are evident
"We moved to spot-spraying last year in the run-up to legislation
that means we cannot blanket spray herbicide on non-porous hard
surfaces and the
EasySpray® PKS
is perfectly suited to spot spraying, with the operator able
to target problem weeds. The road-sweeper is a big, visible machine
that people are used to seeing; using the EasySpray® PKS on the
road-sweeper ensures we minimise any potential risks to the driver of
the Kawasaki Mule. Cost savings are particularly evident when you
realize that it costs my department £14,000 each time we want to
close one lane on a dual carriageway for a fortnight and we have
sections that we have to do three times a year. With the PKS there is
no need for traffic management systems, Rob can clean and spray them
effectively and safely."
Jonathan Carr, Technical Manger at SprayCDA.com
recounted the benefits of the
EasySpray® PKS
:
- EasySpray® PKS
units have already been attached to a variety of road-sweeping
vehicles, e.g. Euromec, Johnston, Scarab, Schmidt, Haiko and Douglas
and can be attached to all commercial sweepers and utility vehicles.
- The herbicide is
applied by automatically calibrated Controlled Droplet Application
(CDA).
- With the
EasySpray® unit from SprayCDA, there is very low risk of
environmental hazards such as spray drift and over-dosing.
- Public attention
is not drawn to the spraying operation, as sweeping is usually
taking place at the same time.
- Bayer
Environmental Science herbicide CDA Vanquish Biactive used in the
EasySpray® PKS is non-irritant and environmentally the safest
available under COSHH regulations.
- Auto Self-Cleaning
is non-optional, to maintain reliable service and save labour
cleaning a sprayer at the day's end.
- Vehicle dashboard
lockable control panel for easy & safe operator use.
- Simple on / off
high visibility push button to spot or blanket spray.
- Variable swath
width or forward speed to suit user.
- Fully Adjustable
spray arms fold away when not in use.
- Stainless steel
box with two lockable hasps for a long rust free life.
- Automatic chemical
reverse facility. Saves chemical and washing contamination.
- Modular
construction simplifies servicing and repairs.
- New reduced application rate saves money and
meets environmental standards.
So would Dave recommend the system? "Absolutely,
we're considering obtaining a new road-sweeper, but key to our
purchase will be ensuring that we have it fitted with a new
EasySpray® PKS
system. It's a robust system that saves us time and money.
The combination of the EasySpray® PKS and CDA vanquish means that we
get year round weed control."
SprayCDA
is dedicated to low volume weed control solutions and information for those who
work in
Amenity,
Horticulture, Agriculture and Industrial Spraying operations. The EasySpray PKS
system, CDA
Vanquish and a full range of controlled
droplet application, low volume and ultra low volume spray equipment including
hand lances, spray and sweep systems and ATV spray units are available.
Visit:
SprayCDA.com
Email:
info@spraycda.com
Tel: 01952
897414
