Landscape Management, November 2010

21 November 2010 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET A pedestrian bridge divides the 35 acre lake that provides irrigation for the property Phoenix was involved in all of the sites irrigation except for the sports fields Weve been involved in quite a few spring training facilities and sports turf projects in Arizona says Doug Macdonald vice president and principal of Aqua Engineering adding that in this project Roger Bossard veteran sports field manager of the Chicago White Sox designed and oversaw those ball field systems as he did with every aspect of the fields construction Bossard who manages U S Cellular Field in Chicago chose Muellermist Irrigation Co to install the fields laterals and sprinklers Aqua Engineering designed and oversaw irrigation for the remainder of the property This project was on the larger side a high profile project says Macdonald We began planning for it two years prior to its opening Aqua Engineering developed the construction documents for the irrigation system and central control system used to irrigate the sites mixed use landscape areas The systems weather station provides data that provides irrigation based on daily on site evapotranspiration rates says Macdonald The company also designed and oversaw the installation of a pump station featuring low pressure and highvolume discharge with a recirculation feature that maintains the aesthetic component of the lake A variablefrequency drive adjusts pump speed to provide constant discharge pressure to the irrigation system reducing energy consumption considerably says Macdonald The design and incorporation of a lake liner and appropriate edge treatments was also crucial to the long term health usefulness and attractiveness of the lake he adds The Camelback Ranch project landed several prestigious design and project management awards and earned Aqua Engineering special recognition from the American Society of Irrigation Consultants ASIC earlier this year This project was a special project and were proud to have been a part of it says Macdonald Camelback Ranch is a destination opportunity for many people Gesicki agrees The project involved 18 months of coordination and cooperation among many people and there were lots of challenges the largest probably being scheduling he adds I think I can say for everybody involved in the project that Camelback Ranch provides a great environment for people to enjoy baseball and its many other amenities LM ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF USING RECLAIMED WATER reclaimed water also known as recycled water is recovered from domestic municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants and is treated to standards that allow safe reuse Wastewater treated to certain defined standards is typically safe for most uses except human consumption The use of reclaimed water for urban landscapes parks golf courses and sports fields is rapidly growing and offers the following benefits Decreased diversions of freshwater from rivers streams lakes and other ecosystems reduced use of potable water by industrial housing and recreational development projects reduction in the amount of groundwater withdrawal which has an impact on baseflow in many rivers and streams Increased water quality by reducing the amount of nutrients entering our rivers lakes and other bodies of water There are no federal guidelines regarding the use of reclaimed water The U S environmental Protection Agency has left it up to each state to develop its own regulations regarding reclaimed water use The purpose of these regulations is to protect human health and water quality meaning that wastewater must be treated to certain defined levels using a variety of proven methods to destroy specific pathogens and remove harmful microconstituents Class A effluent the water used for irrigation at Camelback ranch is one of five classes of reclaimed water recognized by the Arizona Department of environmental Quality Class A effluent has a total nitrogen concentration of less than 10 mg l minimizing concerns over nitrate contamination of groundwater beneath the sites where it is applied equally important for the suitability of reclaimed water to irrigate turfgrass is its salinity or salt concentration High salt concentrations reduce water uptake in plants lowering the osmotic potential of the soil In other words the quality and suitability of reclaimed water for landscape irrigation may vary considerably from water agency to agency so its vital to assess and monitor the quality of reclaimed water as well as to develop a landscape management program that addresses water quality issues such as salt buildup