Irrigation Water Treatment
Location
Westlake Golf Club, Cape Town, South Africa
Parameters
Pathogen reduction, fertilizer and pesticide usage, maintenance work, chemical treatment, and aeration cost.
Type of case study
Irrigation Water Treatment
Date
April – June 2017
Introduction
Avior Aqua is a water technology company that specializes in nanobubble treatment. An increasingly important ground care component for golf course operators is irrigation pond maintenance. Due to decreasing freshwater supplies and growing water bills, many golf courses are irrigated with recycled water. To lower the risks of health hazards to people, animals, plants, and irrigation systems, the use of recycled water involves thorough monitoring and management of water quality.
The Problem
The Westlake Golf Club In March 2017, the local sewage treatment facility supplied 1.800 m3 of water per day to a 10.000 m3 irrigation pond, leading to a number of issues, such as odours that are unpleasant, the water is murky and grey, and a very high concentration of bacteria.
Faecal coliforms in the irrigation reservoir are a sign that the water has been contaminated by bacteria, viruses, or pathogens that could endanger the health of people, animals, or plants that come into contact with it. As anaerobes, pathogenic bacteria need carbon dioxide, organic materials, phosphorus, nitrogen, ammonia, or sulfur for survival. The aerators currently on the market and in use at Westlake Golf Club are costly, ineffective, and unable to swiftly and uniformly disperse oxygen throughout the entire pond.
Faecal coliforms in the irrigation reservoir are a sign that the water has been contaminated by bacteria, viruses, or pathogens that could endanger the health of people, animals, or plants that come into contact with it. As anaerobes, pathogenic bacteria need carbon dioxide, organic materials, phosphorus, nitrogen, ammonia, or sulfur for survival. The aerators currently on the market and in use at Westlake Golf Club are costly, ineffective, and unable to swiftly and uniformly disperse oxygen throughout the entire pond.
Recommended Solutions :
Use the Nanobubble technology from Avior Aqua to improve the oxygenation of irrigation water. Oxygen and dissolved ozone are essential because they lower the amount of carbon dioxide in the water and oxidize anaerobic pathogens. Our experts advised the golf club management to treat the pond with the nanobubble generator’s latest water treatment technology for 60 days based on the site assessment and water analysis data.
The goals of the treatment were to:
- Get away from the bad smell as soon as possible
- Lower the harmful microbes
- Clear the water again
- Restore the pond’s natural balance
Implementation :
The Avior Aqua nanobubble generator was installed in the pond in late March 2017. At the time of installation following were the initial water quality levels: Faecal Coliforms: >2000 cfu E. Coli: >2000 cfu COD: 94 mg/L. Avior Aqua has deployed and monitored the lake for 30 days to see major visible changes. It had completely eliminated odour and algae within 5 days of deployment. In terms of benefits of irrigation of the same over the golf field, it resulted in more consistent resilient grass, increased water absorption and moisture regulation, and eliminated all dry patches. Results of which are as follows:
Irrigation pond
Before Start
Strong unpleasant odour Green
murky water 30 cm visibility No
aquatic life or animals
murky water 30 cm visibility No
aquatic life or animals
After 30 days
The odor disappeared after 5 days
Water color changed by 1 m
visibility
Water color changed by 1 m
visibility
After 60 days
Faecal Coliforms: < 5 cfu E. Coli: < 5 cfu COD: 25 mg/L Visibility in water > 4 m Bottom covered with air bubbles
Results :
Course Green
The course soils became more aerobic as a result of the irrigation water’s high dissolved oxygen content, and the results that followed were noted:
Germination of rye-grass after 3 days
The turf is incredibly thick and strong.
First cutting of grass after 7 days
There are no signs of root rot or yellow areas.
The golf course was renovated in 7 weeks as opposed to the customary 14 weeks.
No fertilizers were
used.
BENEFITS
- 100% resolved the irrigation water contamination with pathogens
- 80% reduction of operational and maintenance costs for aeration
- 100% faster growth of turf
- 50% reduction of green renovation time (from 14 weeks to 7 weeks)
- > 80% cost reduction for green renovation
- Drastic reduction of fertilizers & pesticides
Our method offers a completely natural way to restore aerobic conditions in soil. Increased aerobic conditions give nitrogen-fixing bacteria the right settings, which enables them to greatly improve turf growth.
- no chemicals
- no biological agents
- no fertilizers
- faster growth of plants
- 100% Natural