To keep your course in perfect condition, it is important to understand functions of irrigation. One important function is distribution uniformity, or how evenly the water is being applied to your course. This is important in calculating your irrigation needs, improving both water usage and the playability of your course.
Assess the Lay of Your Land
Greens and tees may not require as much irrigation, whereas driving ranges, fairways and roughs can stand a larger delivery of water. Additional factors can be the lay of the land, elevation changes, wind conditions and soil differences. They will drive the need to irrigate certain areas more than others. Performing a distribution uniformity assessment will shed light on how your irrigation system currently performs and how to calculate and improve your irrigation run times.
You may already know how to calculate distribution uniformity, but we found this step-by-step guide from UC Davis very helpful: ‘Measuring Distribution Uniformity and Calculating Run Time’. It explains how to collect measures, how to calculate, and how to interpret. “A DU A DU of 1.0, which is impossible to get, would mean that every emitter is delivering the same amount of water during an irrigation. Drip systems can deliver water with very high DU, in the 0.8s and 0.9s. When a system has a DU of 0.7 or less, maintenance is necessary.” Their guide explains how to calculate run time based on soil water-holding capacity and depth to wet, and provides a worksheet and instructions.
Best-Engineered Rotors Make for Best Distribution Uniformity
Once you know how much water to apply, you want the best-engineered rotors to deliver the needed application. The internal construction needs to be perfectly balanced between gear drive, pilot valves, and cylinder to create the best distribution uniformity possible. You want rotors that are very efficient, do not waste water, provide good coverage to the turf. In addition, you may want easy installation and service, and Decoder-In-Head technology for some of your irrigation system. For example, Golfcrest Country Club in Texas improved its playing services and reduced water usage by 30 percent by evaluating and upgrading rotors. In the end, installing the right rotors will improve distribution uniformity and save you much water, time, and wear-and-tear on your systems.
