Bowled over by automatic watering systems.

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bowling green, bowls green, bowls green care, bowls green irrigation, bowls green maintenance, bowls green water, bowls green watering, bowls irrigation, bowls irrigation kits, bowls irrigation systems, DIY bowls irrigation, football pitch irrigation, irrigation, landscape irrigation, soccer pitch water, weatherproofing

A well-designed bowls green watering system produces a consistent, quality playing surface, even in the middle of summer.

So, the bowls season is over. The clubhouse is closed, the seats and scoreboard are cleared away and the green is closed down. It’s time for winter bowls green maintenance to commence, or at the very least be planned for the coming months.

Summer 2013 has been hot and dry for most of us…the best summer for many years. Most of us benefited from long periods of dry weather, and we certainly enjoyed it. Most bowls clubs will have watered their greens at some point during the season. Even without an irrigation system, I bet the hose pipes and sprinklers were switched on to keep the grass alive and keep the green looking and playing it’s best.

Putting a water sprinkler on during the day wastes a heck of a lot of water, as most of the water evaporates skywards due to warmer air and ground temperatures. In fact, as much as 30% of the water applied may be wasted (so not being used to help keep your grass alive) compared to watering your bowls green during the night.

If a standard irrigation sprinkler is set to operate from the mains supply, it may use 800 litres of water during a 60 minute operation time. That may not sound a lot, but if you think that if the irrigation sprinkler is moved around the green 4 times throughout the day, each time running for 1 hour that’s 3,200 litres! With almost 1,000 litres of precious water wasted, and not benefiting the grass on your bowls green. Amazingly, if you water your bowls green every day for 3 weeks, thats over 21,000 litres of wasted water!

Enjoying the sunshine (and the bowls) during the 2013 summer.

An automatic bowls green watering system will help to radically reduce water wastage, by watering at night when the ground temperature is at its lowest, the wind speed is reduced, and by applying water evenly across the bowls green surface, will make much better use of this precious resource.

At Buy Irrigation, we hear many different opinions on bowls green irrigation, including the negative ones, like these: “Automatic watering is a waste of time, it puts on too much water”, “Bowls greens should be naturally brown during the summer”, “Watering makes the green too soft”, “Watering promotes disease”.

Ok. Some of these statements may apply to some situations. All of these may be true, for a handful of greens and clubs. But for most clubs, the watering system is an important management tool for the bowls green to attain the required playing surface. Like your mower, if the cutting height is set too low, the grass dies, if you apply too much fertilizer it may damage the playing surface, if you overwater you will damage the green. However, most modern bowls green irrigation systems allow very fine tuning of the system, ensuring this does not need to happen. An automatic bowls green watering system allows you to water your green as often or as little as you like, and allows you to plan your top dressing and fertilizer regimes, without reliance on the good old British weather.

Bowls green sprinklers apply water automatically and evenly during the night when most efficient.

No irrigation system is meant to be set at the start of the season and left to look after itself totally throughout the season. Good groundsmen assess the green on a regular basis checking for signs of disease, grass lengths, nutrient requirements, and also how the green is responding to irrigation. Is it too wet? Do the watering times need increasing? Are the sprinklers operating correctly?
There may be times when certain parts of the green need a spot of additional water. An automatic irrigation system works best in conjunction with the skills of the expert who maintains your green.

One thing is certain: installing a well-designed watering system to your bowls green really helps a club apply water efficiently and evenly, at the right time, and reduces the amount of time spent moving sprinklers and hoses during the day, when really it doesn’t work that well.

Buy Irrigation supply bowls watering kits for you to install yourself (with plenty of advice from us if you need it) or we can install for you. If you’d like some advice, specific to your club’s bowls green, give us a call on 08456 808168 or email here.

Water water everywhere…and not a drop to irrigate.

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Full to the brim…are rain soaked summers the future?

According to recent news, here in the UK we’ve just had the second wettest year on record. Seems a long time since those water bans were put in place earlier in 2012, doesn’t it?

Rusty barbeques and sodden vegetable patches all over Britain attest what a lousy summer we enjoyed, and the rainfall we endured was exceptionally heavy and prolonged. Now, climate experts tell us that we should expect this type of pattern to continue into the future. Woop.

Lovely weather for ducks (and swans). Not so great for plants and turf though.

Is this the end for the UK irrigation industry? Are the 100 plus (wild guess there) UK irrigation companies ready to shut the doors and move to warmer climes? I think not. I believe that most will see the climate situation as an opportunity for increased business in challenging times. Adapt and survive, as they say.

While we may see heavier, more frequent heavy downpours of rain throughout summer and winter periods, we will still get warm summers when golf courses, sports fields, plants and lawns require water at specific times during dry periods.

Cancelled games, postponed matches. 2012 rainfall played havoc with sports pitches.

You could argue that a heavy deluge of rain (where most of the water runs off the land into ditches and rivers) is not effective at irrigating the ground, as the soil just can’t physically accept the water quick enough for it to do any good. So, we could therefore assume that more irrigation is required…maybe a little simplistic, but I suspect it contains more than a shred of truth.

Whether we get these high volumes of rainfall or not, water is one of the planet’s most valuable commodities, as the drought situation earlier in 2012 testified. It therefore suggests that if we can store rapid-falling rain for use during a drought, or during dry periods, then we can be self-sufficient. This is absolutely true, however the storage of water can be very expensive because of the quantities required for long-term irrigation purposes.

A bowling green, for instance, or any area of fine turf lawn of a similar size could need a very conservative estimate of 20 cubic meters (4400 gallons) of water for just 1 week of watering (and that’s just half the quantity recommended by turf professionals). That’s a tank measuring 5m long x 2m high x 2m wide…just for 1 week’s water at half a full application.

The same scenario applies to planting areas. Just think how long your water butt lasts if you are using it every day to water your plants or vegetables.

Anyone for golf? Don’t forget to bring your snorkel.

Golf courses, especially, need masses of water to irrigate the course. An 18 hole course could require 250 cubic meters (55000 gallons) just to water the greens over a week in the hottest part of the summer. That’s a very large and expensive storage requirement for any period of time in drought, and to maximise the collected rainfall.

Right now, the challenge for professional irrigation advisors and installers is give the client an irrigation system which, contrary to opinion, will still be valid and useful in the future. An irrigation system which makes the best use of natural resources (the free water falling from the sky), while keeping costs at economic levels. More importantly, to design an irrigation system that uses that water as efficiently as possible, without wastage.

Underground water storage tanks could help you deliver water efficiently.

Irrigation equipment manufacturers are currently investing millions in the quest to provide the latest highly efficient controllers, sensors and delivery equipment, proven and tested around the globe, to make the best use of the water available.

In summary, even if we continue to get more rainfall, there will be times of the year when you will need to water your garden…golf course…bowling green. So, if you do decide on a system, think about storage of surplus water and remember you’ll need a large storage capacity for long term use, (usually bigger than you think). Don’t consider this storage without thinking about a highly efficient irrigation system. The more efficient the system the longer this storage will last.

Finally, seek professional advice (mine, preferably!). If you don’t feel as though you are getting the right answers, or your needs are not fully covered, try someone else (like me!).

You say Menage, I say Manege…let’s call the whole thing Equestrian Irrigation. (with apologies to George and Ira Gershwin)

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dusty riding arena, equestrian irrigation, irrigation, manege water, menage watering, riding arean watering, riding arena, sprinklers, water equestrian arena

Outdoor and indoor riding arenas come in many shapes and sizes. Typically, the smallest standard size is a 40m x 20m area, but over the years I have seen arenas of many different shapes and sizes.

A low angle irrigation sprinkler watering an indoor riding school

Indoor riding schools can be built to fit an existing building (a barn, for example), and many equestrian menages are constructed in new purpose-built structures with viewing galleries, lighting etc. Outdoor riding arenas also come in a vast range of lengths and widths; some arenas are are fenced, some not.

An example of an outdoor sand-built riding menage

The common thread with all arenas is that the surface is constructed of an imported material, usually sand-based, with an addition of a number of different products such as rubber crumb, fibre, wood pulp, textiles and polymers and similar. The addition of these materials helps to create a firm, but cushioned, riding surface that suits most disciplines.

A typical sand-based indoor riding school

A big problem however, with indoor AND outdoor surfaces, is the presence of dust; especially throughout the summer months. A dusty riding arena is unpleasant for the rider, the horse…and any one else in the building (if inside). Outside arenas are prone to having their surfaces blown away.

Enter Buy irrigation’s ProRide arena watering system, giving automatic, precise irrigation for indoor and outdoor horse riding surfaces, regardless of their size. The ProRide is designed for DIY. A self-install kit, the automatic watering system is tailored to suit equestrian arena surfaces and can water up to a 30m wide surface from the perimeter. (In fact, we can go wider than this, but the wider the arena, the more expensive the kit to cover from the outside.) For wider surfaces, it is sometimes more cost-effective to cover the majority of the surface from the perimeter and simply place a one or two central sprinklers along the centre line of the surface, for 10 minutes or so, to cover the middle of the riding arean surface.

The Buy Irrigation ProRide system for an outdoor menage

The ProRide system is driven by a small water tank and pressure pump, which is usually located near the building, or close by the arena. This provides more than sufficient flow and pressure to operate the water sprinklers (town water mains rarely provide adequate water pressure). From the pump and water tank, sprinklers are installed (usually on the top of the kick boards in an indoor set up or clipped to a fence on an outdoor layout), spaced down each side of the surface. The size of the surface will determine the quantity and type of irrigation sprinklers we supply you. The water sprinklers are then connected to a set of solenoid valves (electric taps) that are open and closed via a small electronic control box. When the valves are opened, the pump automatically starts delivering water to the riding arena surface.

The ProRide irrigation controller

The irrigation controller allows the user to program one or a number of automatic starts throughout the day, so the watering system can operate fully automatically or manually (by simply pressing a button). Either way, the system will stop when watering is complete, so once started you can walk away – knowing the surface has the required amount of water applied.

With the ProRide system, a couple of manual drain points are included, to empty the water from the pipes as protection against the frosty weather (because you won’t need the system during this time).

The ProRide kit is supplied with everything needed to complete the riding arena watering system installation. You will need to connect your water supply to the ball float valve provided for the water tank, and provide 2 x 13 amp plug sockets for the controller and pump. That’s it!

We will deliver the ProRide system to your riding arena after receipt of your deposit (usually 40% of the order value). When we deliver, we’ll spend some time taking the installer through the correct installation method, and explain clearly how the irrigation equipment goes together. This usually just takes a couple of hours. Then we’ll collect the final payment for the system, and leave it with you. In the unlikely event of any problems, questions can be dealt with speedily, by phone or email.

Buy Irrigation’s ProRide system gives fine mist spray and even coverage

There are many examples of the Buy Irrigation ProRide system around the UK –  indoor and outdoor installations. Please contact me if you’d like further information, or if you have any specific questions.

Don’t score an own goal with football pitch irrigation.

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football pitch irrigation, soccer field irrigation, soccer pitch water, watering football pitch

September seems to be the month when we get lots of questions about watering football pitches. Here’s my take on what is or is not possible when watering a football pitch (or an area of grass of a similar size).

Let’s take a typical football pitch measuring 105m x 68m (or 7140m squared). To apply 1mm of water over this area requires 7.14 cubic meters of water. Or, 1,570 gallons of water in Imperial measures. Modern playing surfaces typically require a nightly application of 3 – 4 times this, in the hottest weather, to maintain the quality and playability soccer demands. So, this means that an application of up to 28 cubic meters (that’s 6,160 gallons)  of water per night may be required in the height of the summer.

Whilst semi-professional or amateur football may not have the quality of pitch (or the budget) to provide this amount of water there’s still a need for it to maintain the standard of pitch that is required.

It’s a fact that most football clubs have one sort of supply to use for watering. That is a supply that comes from the town water mains. Its is quite likely it is the same supply that supplies the club house and changing rooms and toilets. By the time you need it to water the pitch there is hardly any left. Most typical mains supplies like this provide a maximum of 23 litres (5 gallons) per minute. That’s the flow of a bath tap at a pressure of 30 to 40 psi. So, you can try connecting it to a sprinkler and hose and put it on the pitch. At this flow and pressure you could expect a sprinkler (any manufacturers’) to cover a 25m circle.

Cutting to the chase, a sprinkler doing 23 litres per minute would need to be on for 309 minutes, that’s 5+ hours…just to apply 1mm of water  or 1,215 minutes (over 20 hours) to apply a recommended amount! Not forgetting how many times the sprinkler has to be moved to get the area covered. It will be a minimum of 35 times to get something approaching even coverage. Finally, this doesn’t take into account that watering during the day is inefficient, as water is lost to evaporation, wind etc etc.

From this, you can see that using the system from the mains supply isn’t really a practical solution.

So, what are the alternatives?

Can your water supply can provide 3 cubic meters per hour at a minimum pressure of 5 Bars (that’s 5 bars when 3 cubic meters per hour is flowing from the tap)? If the answer’s no, then you’ll need to consider a water storage tank and pump to provide sufficient flow and pressure to operate a system to cover the pitch.

Pumps come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. A typical pumping arrangement for a football field starts at around £1,500. A suitably sized water tank to store enough water to make the system viable may cost £1,800 upwards. Then you can choose a method of watering that will be both effective and worthwhile.

The Tracker (manufactured by Perot in Germany) machine is designed for the economic irrigation of sports fields. The machine is set to one end of the pitch and a nylon cord is pulled out to the other end. The chord is then staked down with an anchor peg. Then the water is connected to the back of the machine and to a suitable supply and the machine drive engaged. The machine then winds its way along the cord, irrigating as it goes, until it reaches the end where it automatically switches off. Speed of travel can be adjusted so that it applies between 6.5 and 9 litres per square metre. The machine will cover up to a 38m width and can easily cover a 100m distance. Typically, you can cover a football pitch with 2-3 runs. It can take as little as 5 hours to complete 1 run. A typical cost of this machine would be in the region of £1,300, plus hose.

Moving upwards from this, you could purchase a hose reel-type machine where the machine sits at one end of the pitch and the hose with a sprinkler on the end is dragged to the other end. When the water is switched on, the hose automatically winds back on to the drum, switching off when complete. This machine is arguably slightly easier to operate, but usually more expensive, selling at between £2,000 and £5,000 depending on its’ specification and size.

The deluxe would be a pop-up sprinkler system, covering the whole pitch and working totally automatically…this will be covered in my next football-related blog! (Remember to follow us)

In summary, here are the main points to remember:

1 Watering of football pitches is not as simple at it first may seem.

2 Don’t be persuaded to buy lots of equipment to operate from your mains water    supply if the supply’s poor. It won’t work and it will be a waste of money.

3 Look at the facts. The pitch will need a 7,000 litres of water for a 1mm application. In the hottest of weather periods multiply this by at least x3.

4 Be prepared to invest in a decent system. Expect to invest a minimum of £3,000 (excluding the water tank) for a pump and simple irrigation machine.

5 A self-wind hose system may cost between £5,000 – £7,000.

6 Finally, we all know that grass will grow anywhere. What well though out irrigation aims to do is increase the quality, playability and overall standards within football for all.

If you’d like advice on any aspect of irrigating your football pitch or sports field, give me call on 08456 808168 or visit buyirrigation.

Weather-proof your bowling green (effectively and economically)

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bowling green, bowls green, bowls green watering, bowls irrigation, bowls irrigation kits, bowls irrigation systems, DIY bowls irrigation

Whatever the UK weather decides to chuck at us, there’s always a need to water your bowls green throughout the season. Your bowls green may need watering whilst your annual maintenance program is underway, or after applying fertilizer, or (if we’re really lucky), during a extended period of sunshine and dry weather.

There are plenty of bowls green watering systems on the market – from using a small sprinkler and hose to an expensive pop-up watering system that waters the bowls green from the perimeter of the area. The simplest and most sophisticated systems each have their advantages and disadvantages.

Here’s our take on them:

The simplest systems using a hose and sprinkler connected to a standard mains water supply are usually used during the day, as the weather is at its warmest. This can be a struggle due to low water pressure and/or because there is just not enough water available to cover the green satisfactorily.

Larger sprinkler systems, featuring 4 sprinklers positioned around the bowls green’s perimeter, mean installing large pipework and pumping equipment to get the sprinklers to reach the centre of the green. The water droplets from the sprinklers tend to be large (the sprinklers are delivering more than 10x the flow that comes from a normal water tap and typically at 3 times the pressure). Sometimes, if not managed properly, this can cause compaction and capping problems. These larger bowls green irrigation systems can also be very expensive, putting them way out of financial reach for smaller bowls clubs.

Our ProBowl System provides a solution. Offering a really effective automatic watering system specifically designed for the smaller clubs with matching budgets. The ProBowl irrigation system is designed as a DIY kit; self installation avoiding installing charges, making it a much more realistic financial alternative.

Just like the more expensive bowls green irrigation systems, with the ProBowl watering can be programmed to start during the night (when most effective) and application is very even across the whole area. Power requirements are smaller, pipework is smaller and the whole system is designed to be installed by irrigation ‘amateurs’.

The kit is delivered to site by one of our engineers, who’ll take the Club’s installation team through the installation procedure, spending as much time as required so the club is completely satisfied (usually a couple of hours). Any questions that arise during the installation can be addressed to the buyirrigation team via email or phone.

With over 20 ProBowl irrigation systems installed around the UK in the last 3 years, there should be an operating ProBowl system somewhere close by, should the Club wish to inspect. Check the map here, to locate the ProBowl system closest to you.

Water, water, everywhere…

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bowls green irrigation, equestrian irrigation, garden irrigation, irrigation, landscape irrigation, pumps, sprinklers, watering

Hello. And, thank you for stopping by our new blog.

We’re new to blogging, so please let us know what you think – any hints and tips are gratefully received!

Whilst we may be amateurs in the blogosphere, we’re very experienced in all things irrigation, visit our site buyirrigation for more info. So, if you want to gen up on any aspect of irrigation – landscape, private garden, golf, leisure, equestrian, bowls green, sports, yada yada…please keep coming back. (Better still, follow us, it’ll make our day).

We aim to post every fortnight – on a range of topics, giving advice and tips and sharing some of our irrigation knowledge.