IRRIGATION AND WATER MANAGEMENT
Making repairs after measurements are taken not turning ,” or “ geyser on west sideline .” These problems can be taken care of right away before proceeding with the rest of the audit .
Step 2 is more involved , and takes advantage of the opportunity to determine how effective the first round of repairs were . Begin this step by setting out collection cylinders in the irrigation spray pattern of each head , using the general placement technique of locating one cylinder three feet away from a head and one halfway between heads . Continue placing them until all turf areas are covered . Collection devices can be a bit pricey , but are well worth it . Field managers on a budget can use cat food or tuna cans , which can work just as well as official auditing devices . The dedicated collection cylinders are a bit easier to use , as they have pre-marked water levels printed right on the device ( much like a Pyrex measuring cup ).
Once all of the collection devices are in place , run the system long enough to collect about 10-12mm of water . The key intent here is to be able to compare the amounts collected for an initial estimate of evenness of application ( a . k . a ., efficiency ). Simple percentage calculations and averages
will suffice . At this point , looking for large differences is also instructive . For example , if catch can A has 15mm of water in it and catch can B has 5 , then the deviation is noteworthy and an indicator of inefficiency . The average of 10 in this case is not really indicative of the uniformity of application . Noting the variance is informative , indicating something is broken and needs to be fixed .
Step 3 is best described as a process or protocol : run , then measure , then fix and adjust . The protocol should be continued until at least 80 % efficiency is achieved . As you describe this to staff members and administrators , it ’ s helpful to remember the goal and benefits ; the goal is for all turfgrass areas to receive the same amount of water , and the benefits ( cost savings , healthier turfgrass and increased environmental stewardship ) serve as outcomes that are worthy of promotional value for your facility and the sports field management industry in general .
AUDIT FREQUENTLY Although it may not be an “ in your face ” issue such as Pythium root dysfunction or white grubs , auditing a sprinkler system should be an integral part of sports field maintenance . Once a couple rounds of step 3 actions have been implemented , fine-tuning can take place — such as trying 10 % reduction in runtime . The premise with this is perhaps the system can be run for a tad shorter time and still achieve the goal of keeping the roots moist . For example , if a zone is set to run for 30 minutes , can it be shortened to 27 minutes — a 10 % reduction — and achieve the same results ? Considering the price of water in some localities , it is worth the experiment . The prescribed frequency of an audit procedure is field sensitive , but scheduling each field for once per season would be ideal ; once a year is considered a minimum . SFM
John C . Fech is a horticulturist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and certified arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture . The author of two books and more than 400 popular and trade journal articles , he focuses his time on teaching effective landscape maintenance techniques , water conservation , diagnosing turf and ornamental problems , and encouraging effective bilingual communication in the green industry . sportsfieldmanagementonline . com September 2021 | SportsField Management
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