Issue Date: May ST 2013, Posted On: 4/29/2013
If you believe
irrigation consultants just know sprinkler systems, you’re way off the mark.
The American Society of Irrigation Consultants (ASIC) has spent the past
40-plus years training and supporting irrigation professionals in the industry
in emerging water codes and regulations, water resource development and
quality, turf management, soil science, chemistry, agronomy, horticulture, business
development, marketing—you get the idea.
We caught up with Jeff Bruce, ASIC immediate past president,
and principal of Jeffrey L. Bruce & Company (JLB) in North Kansas City, MO.
Bruce founded JLB in 1986, and has rocketed to the top of the sports turf
industry since, completing about 600 professional and NCAA sports complexes in
the past 10 years alone, including Alex Box Baseball Stadium at LSU, Carolina
Panthers Stadium, University of Kentucky Commonwealth Stadium, and Notre Dame
Athletic Complex. We asked Bruce what’s trending in sports turf irrigation. His
vision of the future might surprise you—it did us.
ASIC: Tell me
about the role of an irrigation consultant in overall design and management of
sports fields. How has that evolved over the past decade?
JLB: Our
perspective is probably a little different because we don’t just consider the
playing field; we profile the entire sports complex as an integrated system.
These enterprises should be completely interconnected from the bottom up;
drainage, catchment, soil profile, irrigation, turf type, and so forth. Then we
consider usage, safety, longevity, resilience, budget, and maintenance and
management needs and capabilities. Then we look at the surrounding grounds, the
plant material, the water sources, the practice facilities, the parking
facilities. It’s all interrelated.
Remember that for every stadium venue there are several
practice fields that are used much more intensively. Typically there are more
business opportunities for those than the stadiums so we like to tie them all
together.
This has evolved into a business model for us that requires
a lot of specialty expertise. I’m not sure anyone else does it, but clients
like managing an entire project through a single consultant.
Is it a good representation of an irrigation consultant’s
role? Maybe down the road. As we see more slippage of the market—more
design-build and other solutions that don’t involve just irrigation—the
irrigation consultant’s role might have to expand significantly into more than
effectively developing and managing water resources.
ASIC: Any new design or business trends in
athletic fields that appear to be emerging?
JLB: A couple of
things. We’ve seen a shift from high-performance turf and irrigation systems to
more modest projects, mostly due to restrictive budgets in this slower economy.
With the popularity of artificial turf, our primary business has fallen off a
bit.
Artificial turf became pretty popular in the professional
ranks, and now is becoming more popular at the high school and park & rec
level. More recently, however, we’re seeing an inkling of a movement back to
real grass. I think it’s related to the current generation of artificial turf
products. There’s really not much history or background on the performance of
these newer products, and decision-makers really have to evaluate claims by
manufacturers with no ability to validate them.
We’re seeing quite a few second surface replacements in
fields, about every 8-10 years. Because the artificial turf safety issue is
still up for debate, and certain artificial fields promote higher injury
incidents, there’s a prevailing feeling that artificial turf is okay, but grass
is re-emerging as the preferred surface.
There’s also been a movement to large pay-for-play facilities,
like big joint county-city projects of 15-20 soccer fields where fees are
charged for use. We’re starting to see the higher end of those facilities
coming back to turf, as well.
So those are trends we’re experiencing. What’s to come? I
absolutely believe there will be intensive new regulations in water sourcing
very soon. I further expect this trend to be a great opportunity for the
irrigation and sports turf industries to be a huge part of an integrated green
infrastructure paradigm.
When we look toward the development of unknown irrigation
technology, we see stadiums and facilities using their fields as water
harvesting and water polishing enterprises, so stadium and grounds rainwater,
storm water and wastewater will be collected below the sports fields, then
polished in a system and reused in the facility. We’ve been looking at this for
awhile.
The challenge sports turf managers have is that they’re in
control of very little. Few get to decide the field or facilities they have to
work with. They have to become empowered to be in position to make a
difference. They certainly have the knowledge and aspirations.
These things are coming, and sports turf managers should
position themselves for more control over their professional destiny.
ASIC: What about water sources? How has that evolved over the last decade? Should we be moving away from using potable water for irrigation?
JLB: Clearly,
water is being subsidized; its cost still is nowhere near the cost of supplying
it. There’s only one way to generate enough water for the population. Higher
water rates are coming, and we’ll see dramatic increases in cost.
There remains a myopic assumption in the industry that turf
managers always will have the water they’ll need. But increasingly we’re seeing
big park & rec facilities that are spending a lot of money on water
starting to explore developing and using alternative sources.
The high-end collegiate and professional venues don’t really
think much about the cost of water; they use potable water almost exclusively.
It’s cheap. But they’re starting to have storm water regulation issues, so
we’re designing drainage in the fields as storage and detention basins to meet
storm water requirements. There’s not a big leap of faith to move from storm
water detention to harvesting water for reuse.
In the future, a prominent part of any irrigation system is
going to be subsurface cisterns to secure water for irrigation, and filtration
systems to render that water usable. We’ll be off the municipal water and sewer
systems; off the grid entirely. I think the Green Industry is starting to
understand that, as green codes continue to trend toward net-zero water. Unless
the industry gets ahead of this, we’ll be walking the plank and the plank will
be cutoff. We need to get off the public systems and intercept water before it
gets offsite.
ASIC: What
irrigation system devices most determine performance and durability in sports
venues?
JLB: Sports
facilities definitely offer a different perspective. We have to ensure the
safety of the athletes using the facility. That absolutely affects our
irrigation equipment choices.
One of the sports turf industry’s biggest challenges is that
irrigation systems are falling apart because to keep costs down at the
design-installation phases, piping is being undersized resulting in
over-pressurized systems. We get it—irrigation is judged by upfront costs; not
longer-term costs. But by small-sizing the piping, a system’s life expectancy
can be cut by as much as half, and certainly opportunities for efficient water
use go down.
These systems lose a lot water and turf when they fail, plus
too much pressure simply deteriorates efficiency. So we’re balancing two
things: throwing water a long way to keep irrigation equipment off the field,
which requires higher pressures; but keeping operating pressures as low as
possible to minimize physical wear on equipment. We specify larger pipe and
head sizes so velocities are reduced, and wear and tear are minimized. That’s
one key to extending the irrigation system’s life. It absolutely requires some
salesmanship.
Another component for consideration, particularly in sports
fields, is controller systems. They’re almost too sophisticated. Oftentimes the
features the average controller provides are way overdone.
We like to keep it simple. Today’s groundskeepers need more
diagnostic tools than features. For example, moisture content is incredibly
valuable information. There’s an opportunity for turf managers to employ more
moisture sensing technology in their management toolbox. Fixed or portable,
they provide a quantitative measure of soil moisture content for more effective
water management.
ASIC: What are
your best design components, from irrigation control systems to sprinkler heads
to piping and quick-couplers to pressure regulation to soil prep?
JLB: We find a
full range of equipment in manufacturers’ catalogues to solve most any specific
problem. If you have high pressure, then pressure regulation is important at
every stage, from mains to laterals. Using pressure gauges helps you identify
spikes and better understand your system.
Isolation valves reign king. Although considered a luxury by
some, the ability to isolate sections of a loop system in the event of a breach
saves time, turf and equipment. Strategically placed isolation valves can be a
manager’s best friend in a crisis. It’s important.
And then there are the smaller details, like accessing quick
couplers for spot watering or syringing; or using quality swing joints instead
of funny pipe. Not every solution is a big, impressive piece of equipment.
High-performance systems should include all arrows in your quill to maintain a
performance-tuned operation. Certainly stainless steel risers are important on
sand-based facilities.
Use the irrigation manufacturers’ catalogue for distinct
benefits that address system or site idiosyncrasies. There truly is a piece of
equipment for every potential problem.
When you look at big sports complexes, the upfront cost of
irrigation equipment is really pretty small compared to the cost of maintaining
the fields themselves. It seems short-sighted to save $100 on a cheaper
controller, but pay someone $25 an hour to adjust the runtimes. You might save
that hundred bucks up front, but shell out $30,000 over a 20-year period. We need
to be more sophisticated in our cost evaluations.
ASIC: Do you work
off a template you’ve developed over the years or is every ball field project
so unique that you start from scratch?
JLB: For years we
would design irrigation for a stadium thinking it looked like the previous
stadium. So we’d pull out our old project plans and specifications, and tweak
them. We realized at some point that
each facility just became its own project. There’s ample uniqueness to sports
fields and facilities that we have to start from scratch with each one. And
it’s not just the quirkiness of the sites; turf managers also are unique in
their management needs and preferences.
Most fields are used a number of different ways, so the
parameters change with each project. There are different needs for lacrosse,
than football, than soccer, than rugby, than concerts, than car shows.
Different uses are going to affect the overall design.
Luke Frank is a
freelance writer who submitted this article on behalf of the American Society of
Irrigation Consultants, www.asic.org. Source: www.sportsturfonline.com/ME2/Audiences
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