Lowara Pumps Water Rare Plant Collection

26/07/2004

Soon, visitors and scholars will be able to enjoy the Botanical Garden of Ancona. Situated near the Forest of Gallignano on the Adriatic coast of Italy, this beautiful area of forest and pastoral land hosts a wide range of trees, plants and animals. Visitors can stroll around the 3kms of paths in the woodland to enjoy the natural habitats or visit the smaller gardens including collections of plants usually growing on the Adriatic coast of the Mediterranean. Ensuring the diversity of the collection, three pumping stations from ITT Industries provide irrigation.
The area is of historical and biological importance and preserved by law. References to a castle on the hill-top date as far back as 1290. The botanical garden provides a sanctuary for migratory animals and many rare species of trees and plants. The range of trees, shrubs and herbs puts the garden on a par with international standards.
The project responsible, says; "we are not only trying to create a simple garden, but a place where you can experience the natural evolution of plants up close".
However, preserving the biodiversity and creating specialized smaller presentation gardens means supplementing the natural water supply. Variations in rainfall, together with the lack of natural shade would put the less hardy plants at risk of thirst.
The first step was to calculate the amount of irrigation needed. Plants tolerate water stress differently and consume different volumes.
Dr Bianchelli explains how he approached the challenge; "we studied the water uptake and the efficiency of plants in different parts of the garden. After calculating the amounts of water to be provided to each species we turned to ITT Industries to provide a solution. Lowara have a wide range of pumps so it was possible to choose a solution that exactly fitted our needs"
The 4" borehole GS series pumps chosen for the task are located close to the water source deep underground and push the water to the surface. Normally, underground water carries sand, which can cause serious pump damage, and there is always the risk of corrosion. The impeller design reduces risks from sand damage and sand contamination (the maximum quantity of suspended sand in water,that is 0.15 kg/m3). The pump is manufactured in materials that resist corrosion.
Says Lowara's Borehole Product Manager; "to ensure the plant collections are kept alive even in the harshest temperature conditions reliability is paramount. The pumps offer a high level of reliability and long life and are almost maintenance free. Should any service be needed, it can be done with the standard tool-kit and anyway, our sales offices are very close so we can quickly come out."
Several features of the Botanical Garden are complete, including the paths and small gardens. Still to come are the visitor's centre, museum and seed bank.

ITT-Lowara (www.lowara.com), headquarters of "Residential and Commercial Water - EMEA" part of the ITT Corporation and located in Montecchio Maggiore, Vicenza - Italy, is a leader in the manufacture of hydraulic pumps and water handling and control systems. It has 1.348 employees in Europe, 771 operating in Italy. In 2007 its consolidated sales totalled about 284 million euro, or over 390 million dollars.
ITT Corporation (www.itt.com) is a diversified high-technology engineering and manufacturing company dedicated to creating more livable environments, enabling communications and providing protection and safety. The company plays an important role in vital markets including water and fluids management, global defense and security, and motion and flow control. ITT employs approximately 40,000 people serving customers in more than 50 countries. Headquartered in White Plains, N.Y., the company generated $9 billion in 2007 sales.