IRRIGATION AND WATER MANAGEMENT
and orifices that are clogged. The big problem comes into play when human nature encourages a sports field manager to run a zone until it produces green grass everywhere.
There are at least three consequences to these inefficiencies:
1. Turf health— Inefficient watering can harm turf by causing some areas to receive too much or too little water. Inadequate irrigation leads to root system retraction, while excessive watering fills soil voids, depletes oxygen, and promotes root decay and diseases such as Pythium root dysfunction and summer patch.
2. Water waste— Overwatered areas, while appearing green in the short term, result in significant waste of resources and contribute to inefficiency.
3. Player safety— Poor footing caused by overly wet areas can lead to player slippage and injuries, creating a serious safety concern.
FIRST STEP: A GOOD“ LOOK-SEE”“ Turn it on and watch it run” is a great starting point for improving irrigation systems.
Grab a clipboard, put several sheets of graph paper in the hold-down spring and use a ballpoint pen to make a map of a field, landscaped areas surrounding a field or campus grounds. Draw in hashmarks, goal mouths, dugouts, coaches areas, player warm-up areas, trees, shrubs, groundcovers, fences, concession stands and others features that aren’ t likely to change.
Turn on each zone for three to five minutes and use flags to mark each head. You’ ll need to know their exact location later in the process.
In another color ink, draw in each irrigation head and designate it some way, such as a capital letter H with a circle around it.
In another color ink, draw a square next to the head designation. This is where you will record the output of each head after it is run for a length of time. You could also use a separate sheet of paper to write in the amount collected. When a large number of heads are involved, a second sheet usually turns out to be the easier approach.
Run each zone in a particular area and make some general observations or field notes to record the flaws. Another option is to make a quick video with your smartphone to document the flaws. You might need
Water thrown on track. Photo by Brad R. Jakubowski
Head not rising above height of cut. Photo by Brad R. Jakubowski sportsfieldmanagementonline. com September 2025 | SportsField Management
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