Magazine - Parkland Opens in Australia

By Parkland Press in Industry News on 18th Feb 2010 6:00

Parkland has opened its first branch in Australia. This is in response to increasing demand for our irrigation consultancy, project management and audit services both in Australia and throughout Asia.

The new office is located in Brisbane and will include two existing Parkland staff members. Irrigation expert, Bill Johns, will manage Parkland Australia. He is transferring from Auckland in March this year after he completes an irrigation project management job in India. He will be joined in Queensland by Irrigation Engineer, Bruce Rome, in July.

Worldwide there is a growing need to optimise water use and reduce costs – no more so than in Australia where severe drought conditions have affected large parts of the country and dried up many rivers.

Parkland has a well-deserved reputation for helping customers achieve the very best out of their irrigation systems. With any new project, this starts with quality planning. Parkland’s design engineers calculate the best way to deliver the smallest amount of water required to achieve
maximum effect. This can be quite a complex task as many factors including topography, soil and plant type affect different parts of a property.

Control system specification and maintenance is a vital component in an efficient irrigation system. Good irrigation controllers have the necessary monitoring capabilities to precisely manage the amount of water delivered to all plantings, no matter what the weather does. Specifying, installing and servicing sophisticated control systems will be an important part of Parkland Australia’s irrigation work.

What’s Happening Underground?

Several new international customers have been commissioning Parkland to complete irrigation audits. A good example is one
completed in 2009. It was for the ACT’s Department of Territory and Municipal Services in Canberra. Parkland’s Bill Johns and Bruce Rome completed this work in conjunction with Keith McAuliffe of The Sports Turf Institute (Australia).

As part of this project, they reported on the condition and efficiency of 28 sports field irrigation systems around the Territory. The evaluation of each system used quantitative and qualitative assessment criteria, including aerial photos of the fields, visual checks of the system in operation, instrument measurements and sprinkler application catch-tests.

The audit report detailed their findings, specified all problems and recommended solutions and projected costs. It told the Department exactly what they needed to know, enabling them to make effective decisions to ensure future viability of their irrigation operations.

Parkland is the exclusive New Zealand agent for a range of internationally proven brands like Toro, TyCrop, Traxmaster, Pope, Otterbine, Motorola and Irrinet. We work proudly with a broad range customers including New Zealand’s world ranking golf courses and sportsfields, local government, landscapers and even the DIY enthusiast. For more information on what’s happening at Parkland go to www.parkland.co.nz  

Read more articles in Industry News, by Parkland Press or from February 2010.