Owner/winemaker Mike Conway of Latah Creek Winery, Spokane, WA, has been practicing his winemaking art for 30 years, and during that time he has used at least six different tank cleaning machines, from spray balls, to inferior rotary impingement machines, and finally an Alfa Laval Gamajet device. Prior to purchasing the device, Mike was consistently dissatisfied with the cleaning of his stainless steel tanks, ranging from 1,200-5,000 gallons, up to 12 feet high, and 6.5 – 9.5 feet in diameter. The spray balls were inefficient and time-consuming, often taking 2 -3 hours to clean each tank. The other impingement machines kept breaking down and the manufacturers were not responsive to the problems Mike was facing with their machines. Finally, Mike received a marketing piece from the company that peaked his interest, so he gave them a call.
Mike explains, “I was admittedly a little gun-shy to try yet another tank cleaning machine; however, I was impressed that Alfa Laval would customize the machine to my particular tank and application. Additionally, the people assured me it would work, or else I could send it back. I was very impressed with their level of service, support, and responsiveness, as well as their level of confidence in their equipment. I decided to purchase the Alfa Laval GJ PF.”
Since Mike purchased the Alfa Laval GJ PF, he has significantly reduced the amount of time spent cleaning his tanks. Each tank takes less than 40 minutes to clean from start to finish, which is half the time it took when using inferior impingement machines and a whopping 78 percent less time compared to spray balls. On top of that, according to Mike, “The Alfa Laval Gamajet is the first tank cleaning machine I’ve ever used that works every time I use it. I always know I can rely on my machine to quickly and thoroughly clean my tanks. It’s a true workhorse.”