Commercial Rain Water Harvesting
Solar | Biofuels | Hydro | Wind | Tutorial
Ram Pumps | Water Purification Systems
Cistern Sizing - Rain Water Recovery
Cisterns - Practical Examples | Water Crisis
Ken Clark's water collectors lap up the Innisfail rain
'Rainman' targets niche market
Reporter: Rebecca Armstrong
First Published: 7/05/00A Queensland farmer has developed what most farmers only dream of, a crop that costs nothing to grow, is simple to harvest and profitable: Ken Clark is harvesting rain and bottling it.
The idea came to Mr Clark after he invented a household rain collection system.
He recognised the potential and applied it on a larger scale.
After attracting a few investors, he bought prime farming land west of Innisfail, in far north Queensland.
It is one of the wettest spots in Australia, receiving on average 3.5 metres of rain each year.
His business, Rain Farm, has grown threefold since he set it up two years ago. And it is still expanding.
The initial set-up costs were quite high: a fully automated production plant, equipped with machinery worth more than $500,000.
But once the initial costs are paid for, the crop will be free.
His water sells for $1.20 for a 1.5-litre bottle in the supermarket. That money is not all profit for Rain Farm, of course, but there is definitely room for some healthy returns.
Not just any old rain
Mr Clark is selective about the rain he harvests: it can't be cyclonic rain, as it has a high salt content; storm water is no good as it contains foreign matter, such as grass and insects.
The purest water comes from the south-east and it is this rain that Mr Clark collects.
"The collectors are inverted only when it rains. In other words, they're in the upside-down position at all times except when it rains and I choose what rain I want to collect," Mr Clark said.
"Once we invert the collectors we have a bank of storage tanks. Now the water feeds from the collectors through 10 micron filters and we select the batches of tanks, they're all batched numbered, then the water fills up those particular tanks."
Rain Farm is producing about 250,000 litres of bottled water a week and sells to Coles, Woolworths, Franklins and a large base of distributors, quite a feat in the competitive bottled water market, which is dominated by big companies, like Coca-Cola.
But it is also an expanding market: bottled water sales last year increased by 40 per cent on 1998, leaving room for new brands to creep in.
Rain Farm marketing manager Perry Grewar says the company is establishing its own niche market.
"We're occupying at this point in time a very small section of the market but growing rapidly," he said.
"It's been a long, hard road but I guess the buyers and category managers see it for what it is - a product of extreme quality and purity and with a point of difference, in that it is the only rainwater product as opposed to ground source water and spring water."CONTACTS
- Ken Clark, RainSystems Ltd
Ph: 07 3229 7316 Fax: 07 3221 0348
