Magazine - New Water Sensors Keep Fields Green

By Editor in General News on 26th Mar 2008 6:00

Sporting club members in Ipswich will be the first to appreciate new water monitoring sensors installed at several sporting fields across the city.

Ipswich councillor David Morrison said the new sensors would be linked to computerised watering systems allowing just the right amount of irrigation water to be applied to grounds to create a ‘fit for play' grass cover. "We have Installed the system across six different grounds so far and will use these as the monitor for how we are going to water adjacent fields.

"The system has already attracted a lot of attention from other Councils who are very interested in the water cost savings that can be gained by their installation," Cr Morrison said. A pilot program would be conducted on six sports fields including Mark Marsh Oval in Limestone Park, at Ivor Marsden Memorial Park, the recently revived field at Briggs Road, one field at Jim Finimore Park, one soccer field at Redbank Plains Recreational Reserve and one soccer field at Sutton Park.

"The system monitors soil moisture of the sports fields in real time. "Essentially, it is a soil moisture sensor which is permanently installed in the root zone of the field and measures the wetting and drying at the root zone of the turf.  "The system is wired into the irrigation controller so that irrigation only occurs when soil moisture levels indicate water is required.  "This ensures that irrigation only occurs when needed and only enough needed to provide the desired outcome."

Cr Morrison said additional items to be installed included water flow meters to log the volume of irrigation and rain switches which turn the irrigation off in the event of rain during an irrigation cycle. "Powerful irrigation scheduling software will allow Council to set up complex irrigation schedules that would otherwise be difficult or labour intensive. "This could then be controlled from the computer base or from the field."

Cr Morrison said Council had also conducted extensive soil testing on fields across the city. "We believe that where we have similar soil types across one series of fields we can get a reading from one installed unit and water all of the fields according to that reading. "I think the new system will save the Council on watering costs as well as improving efficiency and the state of the fields. "A one megalitre saving across all of our irrigated fields would save us around $52,500 a year alone, therefore allowing the system to pay for itself in a very short time," Cr Morrison said.

Source: www.ipswich.qld.gov.au

Read more articles in General News, by Editor or from March 2008.