Artificial Surfaces
“We’ve also used snow ploughs, snow blowers, push squeegees, and students with plastic shovels to remove snow, but a lot depends on depth and type of snow; I sound like British Rail”
possibly affecting drainage and causing standing water. Not only that, the various nutrients within the salt will provide a resource for various mosses and algae to form within the surface. This is likely to lead to problems with the pitch for years to come.”
What is the best method then? Tim Jenkins from Amenity Land Solutions (ALS) narrows it down to two types of product; “For customers with synthetic surfaces, clearing them of frost at this time of year can save fixtures and secure revenue. Two products can be considered ice melt (urea based) and pure dried vacuum salt. Again, it is a case of identifying the types of artificial surface you have, as urea based products may be okay on asphalt, acrylic, rubber and so on, but are best avoided where artificial turf carpets are concerned.” “Only pure dried vacuum salt (PDV) should be used on carpets, and surfaces should not be played on during extremely cold temperatures, as there may be a possibility of damaging the fibre or carpet backing,” says Sam Breeden, Managing Director of artificial maintenance company, Sweepfast Ltd. “Urea based de-icers have the potential to damage the latex backing [of the carpet],” he suggests.
Frost cover supplied by Stuart Canvas So, what is pure dried vacuum salt?
“An option in the past has been to use a salt on the freezing playing area,” explains Sean. “What’s very important to remember is that the salt used needs to be a certain variety, in the same way that only certain infills in the carpet are fit for purpose. Salt needs to be near a human consumption standard - sometimes known as vacuum dried salt - as this product will be extremely low in any contaminants, and will act more readily and quickly on any frost build up.” Mark Freeman uses PDV salt and summed up his regime thus; “We’ve been putting pure dried vacuum salt on all of our artificials for the best part of twenty years, with the blessing of the installers. There are times to use it and times not to, but that comes with experience, we have even used water to wash away frost and remnants of snow on the water-based pitch, but timing is critical.” “We have also used snow ploughs, snow blowers, push squeegees, tractor mounted brushes, and students with plastic shovels and buckets to remove snow, but a lot depends on the depth and type of snow; I sound like British Rail. We have tried urea once before but found it fairly ineffective.” “PDV salt works well, but doesn’t last
very long, as it is soon flushed away with the melting ice, so keeping surfaces frost free comes at a price.” Ultimately, it is down to the budget available to prevent or remedy a frozen surface, that dictates whether or not a venue will remain in play.
“Some drawbacks of this will inevitably be the cost of the process, as well as the fact that the product will only work for so long and only down to a certain temperature,” says Sean. “These conditions may be acceptable to the operator of the surface if they have a specific important event at the facility.”
Environmental effects of using De- icing agents
Are de-icing products harmful to the environment? The environmental impact of using salt to de-ice roads has been reviewed by the Environment Agency, and gives an indication to the effects that using salt on an artificial sports surface would likely have on the environment. “Salt, or sodium chloride, is the most commonly used material for de-icing roads in winter,” say the EA. “Whilst there are minimal short-term impacts to the ecology of watercourses, the salt intake is not prolonged enough to cause significant long-term damage. As salt from roads tends to enter watercourses
The original and still the best 3G maintenance machine
For fast, simple and effective routine maintenance of third generation artificial surfaces choose the ATC
Removes surface debris, lifts folded fibres, and relieves surface compaction in one operation
Arrange a demonstration today - contact David Reynolds at Sweepfast Ltd, the Official ATC UK Dealer Tel: 01675 470770 E-mail:
info@sweepfast.com www.sweepfast.com
54 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2012
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