Understanding that on the prairies and in the northern states winter water troughs are fed by supply lines buried at least two or three meters (8 to 9 feet) into the ground to protect them from freezing and understanding that the ground below the frost line is several degrees above freezing cattle producers can tap into that free heat to offset their winter watering costs.

All it takes is a hole that is 8-foot-deep and 6 to 7 feet across. At OTR Recycling, we recommend you use our "cribbing tires", which are specially designed underground mining tires that are hard as hockey pucks. They will not collapse like tractor or semi truck tires. The thick rubber also acts as an insulator keeping the heat in the heat sink to warm the bottom of the waterer. The waterer has a concrete bottom through which a riser for plumbing hook-up. These components working together also act as heat collectors and exchangers for the water in the tank.

The ground heat warms up the air column which then rises to the bottom of the tank.  From there, the heat is transferred to the concrete, or directly to the water through he plastic riser pipe.

Understanding that it takes only a degree or two to prevent a system freeze up and knowing that the water pumped into the system from below the ground comes in several degrees above freezing, it becomes clear how a producer can save a lot of energy by installing OTR Recycling's low energy winter watering system.

These systems are ideal for feedlot, winter feed areas and remote feeding areas where solar or wind power are the only energy sources. They also go a long way to reducing contamination on calving grounds by allowing ranchers to spread out their winter feeding areas to help keep their calving grounds clean from scour causing bacteria. Another major benefit to having remote watering systems is that they reduce manure hauling costs. Allowing the cattle to spread their own manure will save enough to pay for the systems many times over the first year.

Hooking up OTR winter water troughs is the same as any other waterer and requires very little work. Some ranchers install a "stop and drain" valve at the bottom of the heat sink so they can shut the system down on their remote sites. Others simply tap into the supply line and feed directly into the pipe coming up to the bulkhead fitting in the riser pipe. We suggest that producers use a rubber hose with one or two coils in it before they run the line into the bulk head fitting. Using the rubber hose makes the job easier and allows for some movement without risking damage to the system.