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New system to collect sap flowing at Wamogo |
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Wamogo Regional High School agriculture science and technology teacher Chris Brittain and his students on Thursday were working on the lines of a new vacuum system that will be used to collect sap for maple syrup. BZ photo
Sap will soon be running through a new vacuum collection system at Wamogo Regional High School.
Wamogo is the first school in the state to operate a vacuum system, which incorporates a vacuum pump and releaser on the sap collection lines that should help increase sap production by more than 50 percent and lead to a larger amount of maple syrup.
The system replaces a gravity-fed system that had been in place for years. Students in Wamogo's agriculture science and technology program were making repairs to the collection lines in the system on Thursday. The lines were damaged during Tropical Storm Irene last August and the October snowstorm. Creating the new system was a two-year project that utilized several classes as well as the help of some local professionals. The forestry class milled lumber that the agricultural mechanics class used to build a small shed at the base of the hill that houses the system's equipment. A grant was used to fund the purchase and installation of the system.
With the help of local electrician Charlie Barber, Connecticut Maple Producers Association President Mark Harran of Litchfield and vacuum expert John Langer of Bantam, students designed, wired and plumbed the system.
School officials approved the installation of an electric pole that would bring electricity to the shed. Connecticut Light & Power along and school electrician Randy Lapoint ran the electric lines to power the vacuum pump. Maple syrup produced will be sold in the FFA store at Wamogo.
Below, Wamogo students Kimi Sekorski and Will Beland repair a sap collection line on Thursday. BZ photo |
