Madison Ranches is a fourth-generation family farm founded more than a
century ago. Its irrigation system depends on water pumps at the dead end of
a canal. These pumps draw 18,000 gallons of water per minute over 24 hours a
day, seven days a week, for 9 months. A set of trash racks protecting the pumps
were a source of pain, as they routinely clogged with stringy debris and required
constant manual cleaning.