Local farmer, doubled as an inventor, Ric Awburn and his team, including wife Marianne, took out the top prize in the Prototype Award category of the Fieldays Innovation Awards for developing a ballcock arm that won't break.
SpringArm Products Limited was born out of a frustration of ballcock arms in troughs breaking too often, which resulted in water systems coming under major pressure.
Even just a nudge from a cow would sometimes snap the ballcock arm.
"It doesn't take much for them to break, they just snap off and the water just starts overflowing from the troughs," says Ric.
Ric, who manages a 500-cow farm in Te Kawa, says sometimes they would run out of water for their home, meaning them and their three boys couldn't shower or even flush the toilet.