High Qualtiy H2O, well sorta...

Picture at 5am didn't come out very good...

Over the last three years we have taken samples of water both before and after it has been applied to our greens.  We installed what we call our sampling pits on four greens #6, 8, 10 and 16.  These greens were selected primarily because they have one drainage outfall, or one pipe where all the water exits.  It is important to that other drain lines tie in below the point in which we sample, so the results aren't skewed by bunker drainage or trunk lines carrying runoff. 

We installed what is basically a 10" drain basin that extends 2-4' down to the trunk drain line carrying water away from the green.  There is enough room to reach down with a plastic bottle and draw out water running through the basin.  We drilled holes in the bottom of the basin and bedded it with gravel to prevent water from stagnating in the bottom between irrigation cycles.     

We have the ability to test for a variety of things, our primary focus to this point has been on monitoring sodium content of the water, and therefore the sodium content of our soil.  Soil salinity is measured as the salt concentration of the soil solution in terms of g/l or electric conductivity (EC) in dS/m.  Our reclaimed water was quite high in sodium when the system first began operating, but has since dropped down to more manageable levels.  The key in that sentence is manageable, it must be managed regularly with deep flushing, calcium and magnesium applications, and most of all aeration.  Extreme sodium buildup can lead to a variety of soil and turf problems, in short it prevents water and nutrients from "attaching" to soil colloids, thus creating less than optimal growing conditions.

We measure the EC of the water we irrigate with, we then soak greens with up to 2" of water, the next morning we measure the EC of the water exiting the green, which tells us how much sodium we flushed.  This helps in determining how heavy we need to water and when we need to apply gypsum to aide in the "flushing" mentioned above.  We typically water greens only as needed which normally equates to 6-10 days depending on weather.  Many courses employ a similar means of monitoring their sodium levels, so this isn't anything new, just another way to better manage our facility.