Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/383377
W i n e s & V i n e s O C T O b e r 2 0 1 4 75 stainless steel. The wash-down material did not justify the expense of stainless steel, so we opted for fiberglass. The drain comes with a unique scraper that is curved to fit the bottom of the drain. To eliminate any solids buildup in the drain, one slides the scraper into the slot length-wise and then turns it 90º. Once in the drain, the solids can be pushed into the collection box for removal. Since the slot is narrow and the drain is full port into the collection box, I anticipate the drain would never get com- pletely clogged. The photo at right on page 73 shows the narrow, stainless steel-lined slot as the only element visible in the finished floor. The en- tire drain is forklift-safe. It won't bend, flex or break, and it has been the easiest drain sys- tem to maintain that I have experienced. WE Dr. Richard Carey is president of Vitis Wine Center and winemaker for Tamanend Winery in Lancaster, Pa. He is a regular contributor to Wines & Vines and has written numer- ous articles about new technologies for the grape and wine industry. WineEast Installing box drains in a retrofit M any wineries use box drains because they can handle larger volumes of insoluble materials in the winery. On the crush pad the solid mix is mostly composed of grape parts, rachis, leaves and other harvest-related MOG. However, once the juice or wine gets into the winery, the box drain may not be the best alternative. For box drains, the least expensive option is to form the box in the new area using traditional concrete forms and then pour the concrete. After forming the drain, steel supports are added to the concrete in which the grates will lay. This simple explanation does not begin to explain the technical difficulties in getting all the slopes correct, hooking up the new drain to the existing winery drainage system and then repairing the surrounding floor area that was opened up to achieve the desired result. With these potential problems, this option may end up being the most expensive one. One modular drain system designed by ACO can be retrofitted into a winery. The box comes as a pre-formed unit. Then, segment by segment, you add on units until you get to the collection point. This drain system has collection boxes with multiple built-in connection units. When the drain is ready to be connected to the collection box, a circular cement saw is used to cut the desired hole in the collection box, and short pipe seg- ments are used to connect the drain box to the collection box, which in turn must be connected to the drain pipe system of the winery. Each box needs to be carefully aligned so it mates to the boxes around it, and each box unit must be sealed to the next. All pipe connections must be sealed to maintain a liquid-tight system. Once all the boxes are aligned and con- nected to the collection box and the winery drain pipe system, the concrete is poured. R.C. S ome things should be complex... service isn ' t one of them 716.542.3000 • WWW.NIAGARALABEL.COM specialty papers • digital printing • flexo printing hot & cold foil • screen printing • embossing