Today I came across an article from Drovers called “Extreme weather dominates Central Plains”. Click here for the article. Flooding in the north and drought in the south. This reminded me of a question that we often receive at shows that we attend in the south where the benefits of a heated waterer generally are not needed. “Why would I need your waterer if I can just fill up a stock tank?”

This is a very valid question. My response…low water waste, especially if you live in a drought affected area. Over the past several years, it seems as if drought has been a continuous concern in the south and in California. Studies have shown that the drought will continue for much of the United States. Dumping 50-100 gallons of water to clean a stock tank can make one stop and think about the waste in these drought areas.

Ritchie carries close to 40 units.  While some are quite large, often times, the smaller units will satisfy the needs of your animals. Once the water level lowers, the valve will allow the trough to refill, even as your animals are drinking. The water capacity in these troughs is between 2-6.5 gallons of water, will be all you will be removing when cleaning the tank. Another benefit of these low capacity automatic waterers is that the incoming water is fresh and cool.  Water will not have a chance to become warm or stagnant.

To go a step further, a covered waterer will help reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation. We carry two covered units, the heated EcoFount series and the heat optional Thrifty King series.

So, if you live in an area that has been dealing with drought, the automatic waterer may benefit you, besides saving you time in having to dump and refill your stock tank, much more than previously thought.