SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/45791
Irrigation&Drainage information is necessary if converting to an ET or weather-based control system. Once you have the field sprinklers analyzed and perhaps modi- fied, then you look at the control system. Most irrigation managers can only modify their irrigation controller programs a few times per year. With a central control system they essentially change daily with changing weather conditions. Most systems tie directly into an onsite weather station or an internet-based ET (evapotranspiration). This value is used to adjust sprinkler runtimes up or down depending on local conditions. Hundreds of controllers are shutdown automatically for rain and other site conditions. Things to identify on your control system: • How often can you make changes to the programs? • How long does it take to shut down for a rain event, do all con- trollers shut down? • Do runtimes meet both the local weather conditions for time of year and the soil infiltration rates? • Is the system running at times it should not? • Can I manage a large water source that supplies irrigation to multiple controllers? • Do I have hand-held control on every controller? • Do you need water use records from irrigation? • Do you often have breaks in the system that go undetected? Sprinkler systems for SportsTurf: Say I'm a turf manager responsible for improving the irrigation system for land- scaped areas at a campus, in a park or around sports facilities. How should I evaluate what I have and find out what I need? Laiche: This is a broad based question, but in most cases evalu- ating and possibly upgrading both the delivery method (sprinkler heads and nozzles) and the control system will provide the best results. Most people believe simply up- grading a control system will make their plant material look better while using less water. It does, if you are already running a well-de- signed and maintained in-ground irrigation system. Things to look for in the field: • Head to head coverage from non-field applications Editor's note: Jim Laiche, business development manager for Toro Irrigation, answered a few questions on upgrading or installing new sprinkler systems. sprinkler heads (one sprinkler head throwing water to the next) • Adequate water pressure at the sprinkler heads; too high makes the sprinkler heads mist while too low creates dry areas around sprinkler heads (dough- nuts) • Properly adjusted sprinkler heads, coverage area is correct • Areas with low head drainage • Zone audit. This measures the DU (distribution uniformity) of sprinkler heads in an area. It es- sentially is a measurement of the lightest watered areas to the heavi- est. Many irrigation professionals provide this as a service. • Measurement of PR (precipi- tation rate). This indicates how fast sprinkler heads apply water to an area in Inches per hour. This 40 SportsTurf | November 2011 ST: How do you determine costs of putting in sprinkler system vs. using a system that involves manpower and moving hoses around? Laiche: With manual irrigation you have to consider the hourly cost of labor, transportation expense and wasted water. This can add up quickly and results in very inefficient irrigation practices. Com- pared to manual irrigation, you can save 30 to 40% of your water cost and 90% of your labor by automating the irrigation. ST: What's the newest in water-saving technology in this product category? Laiche: High efficiency spray nozzles improve uniformity while reducing water by up to 30%. Rotating spray nozzles distribute water up to 26 feet from a spray head body. Weather-based stand-alone controllers adjust the runtime based on both local and historical tem- peratures and solar radiation. Central control systems run large groups of controllers from a sin- gle location. You can adjust with local weather station, plus monitor and record flow. Soil moisture sensing reads soil moisture, tempera- ture and salinity and reports back to a computer. Adjustments can be made to the irrigation system based on real-time soil conditions. ■ Using smart W water technologies Editor's note: Troy Leezy, marketing manager for Hunter Industries, and a certified irrigation designer, water auditor and water conserva- tion manager, wrote this update ITH INCREASING FOCUS on water conservation and efficient irrigation practices come new opportunities. Whether it is a product upgrade or replacing an aging irri- gation system, a wide variety of efficient product solutions exist in the www.sportsturfonline.com