Mobile Clean Water: Water That Follows the Herd

Status: My own build (the robot) · Early commercial (the CLEAN-FLOW 350 trough)

I'm designing and building this robot myself. The trough is a real commercial product; making it mobile is my experiment.

The problem with a fixed tank

Cattle spend a lot of time where the water is. When water is within about 800 feet, pastures get grazed more evenly and manure spreads more evenly; farther than that and cattle overgraze near the water (UK Master Grazer; Virginia Tech SPES-710). MU Extension recommends water inside the paddock rather than down a lane, noting that typically 15 to 20% of manure gets dropped in alleys (MU Extension EQ379). NCAT estimates that even in a well-designed system about 12% of manure and urine lands around water sources (NCAT).

Where cattle congregate, soil gets enriched in phosphorus and can lose more of it in runoff (JSWC, 2010). In a long-term Colorado study, hotspots near corners and water tanks covered under 2% of the pasture but produced about 4 to 15% of its nitrous oxide, with compacted soil from trampling (Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 2025). NRCS standards list "improve animal distribution" as a core purpose of watering facilities (NRCS 614).

My bet: if the trough moves every time the paddock moves, there's no permanent loafing spot at all.

The trough: La Buvette CLEAN-FLOW 350

What I'd been calling the "clear flow 350" is the CLEAN-FLOW 350 (ref. 2491) from La Buvette, a French maker in Charleville-Mézières (La Buvette product page).

How it stays clean: six specially shaped bowls joined by a channel. As an animal drinks, it sucks back the feed it dropped, so the bowl stays clean; La Buvette's line is "the more they drink, the cleaner the water" (product sheet).
Capacity: the same drinking capacity as a classic 3.5 m trough, about 60 cattle in production. Suitable for dairy and beef cattle of all ages (product page).
Size and build: 3,530 × 450 × 536 mm, one-piece double-wall HDPE, water depth in the bowls 11 to 15 cm (product page and sheet).
Plumbing: constant-level JUMBO valve, 80 L/min at 3 bar, 3/4" connection, mains-fed (product page).
Less dumping: La Buvette estimates more than 5,000 or 7,000 liters less dirty water dumped per trough per year, depending on the CLEAN-FLOW model (230 or 350). Its basis is a dairy example: a classic trough (2.30 m/110 L or 3.50 m/160 L) used by 40 dairy cows and cleaned weekly, dumps at least 5,720 or 8,320 liters a year; a CLEAN-FLOW cleaned every two weeks dumps almost 10 times less (maker's estimate, product sheet). My beef herd and cleaning schedule will be different, so my own savings will differ.
Options: galvanized protection (recommended for beef breeds), 24 V electric anti-freeze kit, anti-lapping frames (product sheet).
Price: €1,102.50 plus VAT (ref. 2491) on La Buvette's Spanish price list, Tarifa N° 112, dated July 23, 2026 ("al 23/07/2026") (Tarifa N° 112 PDF; the file name still reads "Tarifa-110", but the document inside is Tarifa 112). I haven't found a US dealer or US price yet.
Launched: available from October 2024 (press release).

Design challenges I'm working on

The CLEAN-FLOW is built to be wall-mounted and connected to a pressurized line (20-point wall mount, mains supply). So the robot has to solve:

A rigid mounting frame that mimics a wall, so the body doesn't flex or crack in motion.
Pressure and flow: the valve is rated 80 L/min at 3 bar. Either drag a surface poly line with quick couplers (the standard portable-water approach, Virginia Tech) or carry a tank and pump.
Stability: a 3.5 m trough full of water, pushed by cattle, on uneven ground.
Winter: the 24 V anti-freeze kit draws 200 to 300 W (product sheet), which matters for a battery robot.
Coordination: move to the next paddock in step with Nofence moves.
Not making a new mud hole: NRCS heavy-use guidance exists because trampled spots erode (NRCS 561). Moving often is the point.

Prototype plan

v0: trough on a towed skid or trailer, hand-moved, poly pipe and quick couplers. Learn the basics.
v1: powered, remote-driven base.
v2: autonomous moves to a target I set, synced with the fence schedule.

All three are my own design. I'll post drawings and results on this page.