Sports facilities consume large quantities of water – whether it is used to irrigate a pitch, as a dust-binding agent on clay tennis courts or to maintain shock-absorption surfaces in equestrian arenas. Frequently such sites have large covered areas for spectators as well as club houses, changing facilities etc. It is therefore a logical step to collect the rainwater falling on these roof surfaces for irrigation use. Grass surfaces such as football, rugby and cricket pitches have to be maintained in top condition, whilst frequently suffering heavy use. Watering of the turf is a vital part of their maintenance and can consume large quantities of water. In many such situations an obvious answer is rainwater harvesting. Sports of all kinds can benefit from the technology.
Precious mains water is often used for the applications described above. But there is no need to use expensively treated drinking water for this purpose. Clean rainwater is the ideal solution – using harvested rainwater reduces operating costs and conserves drinking water resources. The charges for draining rainwater into the public sewer system, can also be avoided.
Rainwater is soft. Its use does not produce any limescale deposits of the kind associated with hard tap water or groundwater. What is more, rainwater is available wherever you live.
The drainage pipes from the existing roof surfaces are connected to the rainwater storage tank via the low-maintenance rainwater filter. Filtering the rainwater ensures that the water quality can be preserved for long periods of time so that high-quality water is immediately available on demand. The rainwater unit controls the system and ensures that the integral pump produces the required operating pressure whenever the irrigation system is switched on. Rainwater can also be used to flush toilets or for cleaning equipment.