Innovative Irrigation Designs 1

[EngWade]

I'm soon to begin working on a two part Project for a Golf Course's irrigation system(s). The first part will be assessing the current irrigation system. The second part involves any recommendations I can come up with to improve their system(s).

So what I'm interested in is hearing anyone who has had any experience or read about any sort of innovative irrigation designs that might be worth exploring. I feel this is a great opportunity to come up with a "green" design - maybe harvesting rainwater in ponds, and using it for irrigation as opposed to just tapping into the municipal water supply.

Thanks in advance for any replies, and feel free to think outside the box.

 

[coloeng]

It would help to know where the project is located. It makes a big difference if it is Kauai or Phoenix.

 

[itsmoked]

coloeng's question is certainly pertinent.

Collect all parking lot water and use it?

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[EngWade]

The Project is in New York State. And I understand some of the basic concepts of where to get the water from, I was more intersted in actual case studies, or issues that arose during the design process that ruled out a more "green approach." Some concerns that I have come up with on my own include:

1. If I collect runoff from a parking lot that is heavily salted/sanded (because this is in NY), how realistic is it I'll be able to keep sediments from getting into and damaging my pumps or distribution lines. Or similarly, will there be other chemicals from cars that would be detrimental to plant health if I could not treat the water sufficient enough prior to using it on the lawnscapes?

2. In periods of dry weather (when the irrigation is most likely to be needed) will I have enough available water to meet the irrigation demand? Or if not, how do I offset the difference?

Thanks for your input guys, and I hope this thread can take off a little bit more. I feel strongly that using rainwater for irrigation is a strong environmental benefit, and that it should be utilized more frequently.

2. Sa

 

[cvg]

one of the new innovations are irrigation controllers which can adjust watering rates to correspond to the climate conditions automatically. For instance, they are either pre-programmed or automatically download data using a phone connection on temperature, precipitation, humidity, etc. and they can also rely on historic data. I belive you can also calibrate the systems by entering in the appropriate soil and vegetation types. The unit calculates the ideal amount of water necessary and adjusts the controller automatically. These controllers can be quite cheap but can really cut down on the amount of water that is used. I live on a golf course and they have installed these and reduced water consumption dramatically.

 

[gerhardl]

Following comes to mind as the safest procedure, as New York state will have a variating climate, from periods with frost and snow, heavy rain and perhaps longer dry and warm periodes in summer.

1. Water. Nearest, overall cheapest water resource, all year dependable, perhaps combined with cheaper natural resources elsewhere part of the year. If water cost is high is boring for underearth resources then a possibillity ? Cost ?

2. Off-water. Water from parking areas not recommended if fear of chemical pollution (salt and oil) - but is there any restrictions here on outlet and cleaning/control that after all makes this a possible source combined with grey water from club buildings? Cleaning and controlling in case? Cost?

3. Evaluation of existing system. Capacity, rest lifetime, maintenance and new parts, troblefree running, frost problems or procedures. Lifetime cost compared to complete new?

4. Type of mechanical components. Standard system and components, commercial best cost/lifetime evaluation.

5. Evaluation of demand and micro-local and general climatic and grass-related variations. Suggest contact with updated gardeners for minimizing and most effective watering application and timing (time of day to minimize loss from sun and warmth - root watering, ability to give more or less to selected areas, not more than necessary.
etc). Dry-climate lands has extensive knowledge here, Israel for instance has both knowledge and some interesting technical equipment solutions.

6. Clima. Remember that not only macro-climatic variaations exists, also micro-climatic as type and age of grass (newly seeded or ready mats laid out, or old established) placed in sun, shadows, top or vally ) will give different watering demands.

7. Steering and automation. Put some thoughts as suggested on general watering procedures /steering or automation. Automation and programming could be more or less complicated, but I imagine a fairly simple programming from a few measure points (temperature, moisture?) in addition to some visual inspection and oversteering could give fairly positive results.

I believe this combination of already existing areas of technical and gardening knowledge would be a good, perhaps the best possible, contribution reach your target. Don't overdo anything if it does not contribute to quality and cost.

 

[bimr]

RWF7437 previously mentioned the golf course in Prineville Oregon. There are several others in Oregon:

http://home.earthlink.net/~douglaspage/id24.html

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/07/driven_by_cost_and_conscience.html

http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/pubs/factsheets/reuse/waterreuse.pdf

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/WATER/reuse/docs/golfcourse.pdf

http://www.angwin-ecovillage.com/water.html

 

[atook]

For the first part of the project, I might hire an irrigation auditor. That should get you a technical efficiency for the current irrigation. You may need to put some work into evaluating the current water source(s) and past water usage, if they’ve kept records.

Regarding the new system:

Be careful with your water source. You may be able to harvest water from a parking lot, but if the water is salted, treatment will be prohibitive. Polluted water running through the irrigation system can ruin the entire course in a very short time.

Precipitation harvesting is a great idea where it’s legal. In Colorado for instance, watershed rights are not necessarily included in the land, and harvesting water can be a tricky proposition. If you can do it, I’d recommend running the water into a lined pond, and pumping water for irrigation from there. If precipitation water is short the pond can be augmented with other water sources. This also provides a buffer between supply and demand.

Many if not most modern golf course irrigation systems are centrally controlled from a computer that reads current weather conditions from a weather station on site. The system then puts down the amount of water lost the previous day through evapotranspiration.

An updated system will not only use less water, the improved water distribution can help reduce fertilizer requirements.

Speaking of fertilizing, a fertilizer injection system might be added to the new system allowing for fertilizer to be pumped into the irrigation system, giving very exact control of the amount of fertilizer being put down on the course. Many superintendants use this for soil conditioning instead of fertilizer though, since different amounts of fertilizer are put down in different areas of the course.

Another option to look into is a “links” style course which is much rougher, an limits the amount of irrigation required. Public perception may limit this possibility.

It will be a good idea to work closely with the superintendant of the course, after all, he will be the one having to work with and maintain whatever it is you end up designing.

If the owner has the money, now is a great time for updating the infrastructure on a golf course, costs are lower, and contractors are hungry!


Tim Grote - The Irrigation Engineers.

http://www.irrigationengineers.com

 

[photoengineer]

Who owns the rainwater in your state?

In Washington State, rainwater is owned by the state government, so you have to obtain their permission to put it to beneficial use. (Yes, it's not like rainwater is scare in Seattle). They may or may not issue a permit for rainwater harvesting for golf course watering.

 

[cvg]

in general, water rights are divided among surface water and ground water rights. You need to own the rights to use either one. In most places, the rights are conveyed with the land. It gets tricky when you try to divert surface water because that water runs to the nearest river which then flows through many properties which benefit from that flow in the river. Often these rivers even cross state and country lines so you could be impacting someone in another state or country who has a reasonable expectation to benefit from the normal flow of water in the river which you are depleting. There are engineers and attorneys who specialize in this who can give you an expert opinion of what you can and can't do. The state department of water resources will also probably require a permit to divert, pump or otherwise utilize either surface or groundwater.