Opening Golf to the World
Effingham Golf Club
Effingham Golf Club have diversified their water supply over the last few years and are now entirely self sufficient for irrigation water. The club utilise an onsite reservoir to store borehole water as well as drainage water harvested and treated onsite.
Effingham Golf Club used the drought of 2006 as an opportunity to shake up their existing irrigation system and water supply. During this drought a local hosepipe ban was put in place, forcing the club to tank in water in order to maintain the viability of greens. Thanks to an influential member, Effingham were able to rapidly apply for planning permission and construct a 15,000m3 reservoir located on the site in order to store water from the site's boreholes.
The Club quickly realised that due to the location of the reservoir at the base of small valley, they could harvest water from the farm buildings and yard located within the course as well as surrounding fields. Water is allowed to drain from the farm buildings and fields into the yard and then directed towards the reservoir. This provides roughly 3-4000m3 (30-40% demand) of water a year which is filtered through a 30m x 5m reed bed before it enters the reservoir. Coupled with two onsite boreholes, the Club is now almost entirely self-sufficient for water, and can store up over a year's supply of water (10,000m3) if needed.
The Club are very careful to reduce irrigation where possible and operate a policy of irrigating to reach a specific soil moisture content (15-19%) rather than blanket irrigation. This involves taking soil moisture measurements at least twice a week during summer months and constant optimisation of the irrigation system which can deliver specific volumes of water to different areas of the course. This has allowed the Club to keep irrigation at an absolute minimum, ensuring healthy and hardy turf which is also much more able to cope with drought conditions. In addition, the Club have invested in wash down facilities which recycle washdown water. This is estimated to have reduced wash down water use from 1-2m3 a day to 4m3 a year.
Key Figures
- Course irrigation water demand: 10,000m3
- Reservoir size: 15,000m3
- Water supply to reservoir:
- Rainwater harvesting 3-4000m3 a year
- 2 x boreholes 15,000m3 a year
- Mains water backup
- Reservoir cost: £100,000
- Construction time: 3-4 months
