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Monitor To Manage: Gressingham Foods Reduce Water Waste With Simple And Scalable WAGO Solution

There is no escaping the fact that poultry production is a water-intensive business. But simply knowing how much is too much, can help businesses to keep their use, waste, and bills as low as possible.Water use monitoring at Gressingham Foods’ pumphouse, for example, has proved so successful at detecting leaks and waste that the team is now working to expand the scheme to other areas of the business.Here José Almeida, engineering manager at the world-famous duck producer, explains how the WAGO EDM Solution provided the insights needed to take action, and why working with a distributer like Parmley Graham made the whole installation process plain sailing.

The challenge

From drinking to cleaning, processing to heating and cooling, poultry production uses a lot of water. And the more water the facilities use, the more it costs, both in terms of the water itself and the chemicals, such as chlorine, needed to treat it.

Keeping water wastage to a minimum is as essential to the bottom line as it is to managing sustainability efforts. Yet while you can only manage what you measure, many facilities lack the accurate data they need to make meaningful change.

This is why the world-renowned Gressingham Foods, in Suffolk, UK, decided to monitor their water use.

The idea was to start small, monitoring mains and borehole water use in the pumphouse, using that information to take action, and then investing the savings in expanding the scheme across other parts of the farm.

The solution

In late 2023 to early 2024, the team worked with Parmley Graham to install a WAGO Energy Data Management (EDM) solution with flow meters in the pumphouse feeding the site’s water supply.The system provides accurate, real-time visibility of water consumption, with visual dashboards showing water inflow versus outflow to different production areas. This has enabled José to set baselines, identify patterns of abnormal use, and make informed, data-driven decisions.

The process

José explained that the key reasons for choosing WAGO were the strong demonstrations and the responsive technical support from the company and their specialist distributor, Parmley Graham. WAGO and Parmley Graham delivered site surveys, scoping, commissioning and hands-on training to staff, and provided easy access to engineering support during setup and troubleshooting. José described the process as easy, proactive and very positive. He also noted the simplicity, scalability and cost-effectiveness of the WAGO EDM Solution. The open, vendor-agnostic design integrates with existing meters, whether that be water, electricity, gas, or air, keeping costs and set up time to a minimum. It means Gressingham Foods was able to start in the pumphouse, using operational expenditure rather than capital expenditure.

The outcome

The WAGO EDM solution has given Gressingham Foods the ability to pinpoint the specific part of the site responsible for any abnormal consumption. This allows for early leak detection and repair, and enhances control over treated, or chlorinated, water, reducing chemical usage. Not only has the project decreased water supply and treatment costs, it has also reduced the risk of breaching Environment Agency limits on borehole extraction.

Next steps

In the coming months, José and his team plan to focus on wider energy monitoring. As they demonstrate the value of the “monitor to manage” approach, they have the option to scale the system to cover to additional high-use areas, such as hatcheries, or utilities, such as electricity or compressed air. In fact, thanks to the simplicity and scalability of the solution, and the quality of the training, they are now confident in using EDM to extend monitoring wherever and whenever new opportunities arise.