Synthetic fields need irrigation systems for different reasons than natural turf fields. Above: The synthetic field at Paul Brown Stadium, home of the Cinncinati Bengals gets a blast from one of the field's six Nelson 150 Irrigation Guns (close up below). Images courtesy: Darian Daily.

Today many new and renovated athletic fields are utilizing synthetic turf in lieu of natural turf for field hockey, soccer, lacrosse, football, and intramural fields. This movement is not restricted to professional fields, but is now commonly seen at the high school and town recreation field level.

Synthetic fields are expensive to install. Organizations sometimes think they can save money by not installing an irrigation system in a synthetic field. There are many reasons why this is not a wise decision.

Why does a synthetic surface need watering?

The issues involved relate to health, safety and field maintenance. These include, but are not limited to:

• high temperatures (especially at the surface),
• controlling particulate (i.e. rubber filled fields),
• sanitation and cleaning, biological control (spit, blood and other bodily fluids),
• fire control, playability (especially for field hockey) and
• reduced maintenance.

The debate of whether to water or not is still raging. But if the assumption is made that, yes, the synthetic field needs to be watered, how would you go about it? How is this different from watering a natural turf athletic field?

Watering, not irrigation

There are several ways that a synthetic field can be watered. Some are the same as for conventional fields. However, due to warranty concerns and sprinkler location considerations, synthetics in most cases need a different approach.

Probably the most important thing to remember is that you are watering the field, not irrigating it. Since we are not trying to provide enough water to keep a plant alive and growing, irrigation uniformity is not an important consideration.

Any athletic filed can be watered in a variety of ways. These include:

• conventional pop sprinklers installed in the field
• portable irrigation systems such as aluminum pipe
• traveling gun sprinklers or
• some sort of hybrid system.

All of these types of irrigation have good and bad points. However, when you consider the special needs of synthetic fields, the viable choices narrow quickly.

When will watering take place?

First, if the watering is needed for cooling or playability requirements, the watering will take place shortly before the game and in some cases in between halves. In that case, any system that needs to be set up and taken down will not work. Space and labor for storage of such portable equipment might also be an issue.

How much time will you have to water?

Second, the watering may need to take place quickly. If it is during halftime, you might have as little as eight minutes. This will eliminate any type of low precipitation rate equipment, such as a traveler.

Where can watering equipment be installed?

Third, there can be no sprinklers installed in the synthetics, except perhaps along the side lines. This eliminates the normal pop up sprinkler type layout. Much like irrigating a polo field or horse rink, you do not want the liability of having a sprinkler tripped over or damage to the field. The synthetic manufacturer may void the warranty if you install a sprinkler through it.

In some cases the ability to water the field may be nothing more than a good water source at a significant pressure to water down the field with a large hand held hose. Hand watering however, can be time consuming and labor intensive also.

If a conventional irrigation system is chosen, there are special considerations that need to be taken into account. Uniformity is not an issue and the precipitation rate should try and be kept in the lower range.

Water quality concerns

If you are using a non-potable source, you will need to consider algae growth and possibly salt build up. A water quality test should be performed to ensure that there are no contaminants that would adversely affect the type of synthetic being installed.

Next month: equipment for watering synthetic surfaces.