The second in a series of articles by Duncan McGilvray, Managing Director of Enviropro H2O Ltd, concentrates on financing the enormous cost of what is, potentially, a very large project. He also covers after project system care and, controversially, questions some of the long held beliefs which many hold as necessary to ensure system performance.
FINANCING IRRIGATION SYSTEMS T
his article is intended to assist those who manage fine turf areas to get the resources they need to satisfy the demands of their employers as well as questioning how money is spent in the management of irrigation systems.
The Costs
As stated in my last article ‘automatic irrigation may cost anything from £75k to £1m dependant on how far you want to go’ (typically your average 18 hole greens/tees/pc controlled system will cost anything between £100k to £200k dependant on various factors) so, how can you finance that? The choices for usable water sourcing, whether mains, bore hole, reservoir etc., will be covered in a later article. Before you even contemplate speaking to your employers about the costs
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involved you must do a lot of background work - this will ease the shock element when you first present your case to install a new system or upgrade an existing system, and also equip you with all the necessary background knowledge.
Installing a new system
Research all the benefits that such a system would bring, following the stated reasoning:
‘It is known that the grass plant must be given supplementary water from time to time to ensure it survives. Irrigating during the day is very inefficient and wasteful as evaporation and transpiration rates are at their highest in the daytime. Therefore, it is better to irrigate overnight when water will not be wasted. Irrigating at the right time, and in the
right quantities, is essential in achieving acceptable playing conditions on a golf course/sports ground etc. Hand held hoses or portable sprinklers are therefore totally inadequate.’
Up-grading a current system
Survey the system thoroughly and list your findings as follows (with expert help if necessary):
• All faults
• The inconvenience caused to and experienced by your members/players etc.
• The costs in maintenance and staff time to rectify any faults
• Any Health & Safety issues/concerns
• The waste of water and associated costs if leaks are experienced
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