Frogs and other fauna and flora at the City of Whittlesea’s Growling Frog Golf Course will soon enjoy lush conditions, with reduced water consumption.
Located approximately 20 kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, Whittlesea recently obtained a grant from the Victorian Sustainability Fund to trial subsurface irrigation. Using the innovative KISSS® subsurface drip irrigation system, the trial is expected to reduce water consumption on the course by up to 75 per cent. It offers extensive benefits including substantial water savings and the ability to irrigate the course using recycled water at any time, including while people are playing on the course.
Under EPA regulation, the existing spray irrigation system must be used at least four hours prior to use. In addition, high winds can decrease the effectiveness of the spray system. The KISSS® System sees water enter a drip tube before flowing out through emitters into the geotextile wrapping surrounding it. The unique geotextile allows water to move through the KISSS system up to 10,000 times faster than through soil. The water is then absorbed by the soil while minimising drainage losses and keeping the ground surface dry.
Whittlesea’s trial involves the development of a 500 square metre turf nursery, which will be used as a source of replacement turf for any damaged areas within putting greens. The area will also be used as a practice facility for golf warm up exercises and golf lessons to demonstrate that the trial will be undertaken in a ‘real world’ environment.
Construction of the turf nursery commenced early this month, and the trial project is expected to take place over the next three to five years. During this time, the turf nursery will use reclaimed effluent from a nearby water treatment plant in a long term agreement with Yarra Valley Water.
The success of the trial turf nursery is expected to inspire other golf course operators and turf managers to adopt the innovative new system.
“Leading planning and development has been a feature at Growling Frog Golf Course since its inception,” said Whittlesea Councillor, John Fry. “This project is the latest in a long list of high level environmental achievements used in the design, construction and now maintenance of the course.
“With Victorian water storages down to 32 per cent capacity, the need to conserve water has never been more evident. The City of Whittlesea continues to be a leading community when it comes to environmental considerations. We are achieving our goal of being model environmental citizens.”
For further information contact Kelli Martin at the City of Whittlesea, phone
(03) 9217 2383.
