Water

Making my way out of the river after setting up the intake and making sure the foot valve was closed before priming the pump

 

If there is one issue that most turfgrass managers have in common, it is dealing with an irrigation system. We have all came into work in the morning to find a new water hazard or a huge crater in the fairway. It is definitely a love hate relationship, as when they are functioning properly they give us very little grief, but when the system is down, frustration kicks in usually followed by a colourful vocabulary.

The irrigation system at Dinosaur Trail is a combination of valve in head and block systems, with Toro, Rainbird, and Hunter heads. We have Hunter and Rainbird satellites, with the front nine being controlled by Stratus. We have two pump houses, the original for the front nine which is a single speed vertical turbine that is only used for backup, and the newer pump house built in 1993. In this pump house we have two VFD vertical turbine pumps controlled by an obsolete pump control system installed by AES out of Lethbridge. I am currently in the process of getting this pump control system updated as if it goes down, AES has told me they cannot repair the system, only replace it, which from time of breakdown would take 2 to 3 weeks. I believe in being proactive rather reactive so this is something I want to see get done before the end of May.

VFD Pumps with header and valve setup

River Pump

Original Pump

  

The unique part of the system is that both the front and back nine have there own dedicated pump, but with a special header and valve system, if one pump goes down the other can run both the front and back. The reason for this is that the back nine system runs at a higher pressure than the front due to the elevation changes in the back. So my plan is to fire up the front nine this upcoming week, deal with all the issues there and then focus on the back, where I know I am going to have lots to deal with back there.

The water source for the golf course is the Red Deer River which is pumped via a centrifugal pump on a movable skid, powered by a three phase 30 horsepower electric motor. The water is then fed through a 4 inch line that flows into our settling ponds and then flows over weirs to the holding pond. Before I started filling the ponds I had two breaks to fix as I tested the line for ice and breaks with a 2 inch trash pump prior to hooking up our main river pump. I also have a smaller 15 hp river pump for backup in case something happens to my main pump.

Mother Nature has definitely taken the pressure off getting water on the course with this recent moisture. Being located in a desert climate, I need to have my irrigation system running and functioning optimally. I know there are going to be some long tough days ahead digging holes and fixing problems, but in the end it will all work out, its only grass!