Courses Using Recycled Water?

[rok78]

My girlfriend is very much into conservatism and the environment, so she posed this question to me and I thought I'd ask those who know more than me...like all you old fogey's :beruo: !

 

Anyway, when she did a field trip with her students to the Water treatment plant she found out some courses use recycled water to water the fairways, greens, etc, which helps them save money on cost of water as well as fertilizer (the recycled water still has some "juice" left in it). But she couldn't remember which courses they were. Anyone have any ideas on which courses? My guess was muni's in Ewa like West Loch, Makalena since they do have a certain smell to them...

[Xsfspeed]

Maybe Joey would have more concrete information on this, but I believe that just about every golf course uses some form of recycled or non-potable water for irrigation and sometimes for their water features. There is usually a great deal of signage that indicates this to be the case on each course. It stands to reason that they would do this, but they are still subject to health and safety guidelines regarding the levels of waste allowable. :) Considering that fecal coliform is naturally occurring in fresh water streams and that airborne fecal coliform is generally found on your toothbrush, as long as the levels are acceptable, we should not be at risk. However, the smell is another matter entirely. :beruo:

[da master 808]

Man, I really wish you guys would stick to the club ho'ing questions! :)

 

I believe that many or most courses (especially on the Ewa plain) use nonpotable water. I read an email (that I wish I had taken more seriously) from the Aloha Section PGA regarding "nonpotable" water a few months ago. Apparently the state is trying to mandate the use of nonpotable water for everything except human consumption by 2010. The PGA (if I'm not mistaken) was against the it because of the unknown negative effects that might occur. Some types of grass like Paspallum (Rick's favorite) may thrive on recycled water while others like a Bermuda may struggle. I'd rather not get into a whole discussion about alternative water sources, nonpotable water use or any other tree hugging issues. I remember the whole can of worms I opened up the last time I gave my two cents about PING policies.

 

As for Mililani, I believe we use a small amount of nonpotable water. Fortunately for us the Waiword not allowed ditch bisects the course and we are able to purchase Waiword not allowed water for irrigation since it is already allocated for agricultural applications.

 

I hope this answers your question because my head really hurts for some reason now. If anyone would like to make corrections, please chime in!

 

like all you old fogey's

BTW, aren't you older by a few years? :beruo:

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

Also known as "Grey Water"

 

A lot of residential home owners are also installing "grey water" tanks in order to conserve water. Nonpotable water (shower/sink run off, etc) is stored in a tank and then used for lawn watering, etc.

[kscchang]

I'm fairly certain that Hawaii Kai uses reclaimed water from the nearby private wastewater treatment facility.

[hobbes]

Several courses in the Dallas/Fort Worth Texas area have signs warning that the water used in irrigation is recycled and is not suitable for consuption. Specifically I recall seeing this sign at The Links at Waterchase in Arlington, TX.

 

 

I also remember hearing that they use something like 600,000 gallons of water a DAY while watering. There is just no way to do that with fresh water.

[wkuo3]

The non-potable or reclaimed water will have more stuff in it than just the "juice left over ", according to some ecology report I read in the past, it may contain large volume of pharmaceutical products ( either fromhuman waste or people dumping expired medication down the sewer line ), run off from farm and factories near by......

I'd be very careful of consuming food and going to bathroom during and after the round; you must properly wash your hands before.

I wonder if a golf course should post this information either at the pro shop or on their web. If this should be made mandatory, like posting dates of applying fertilizer and pesticide and the content of the application.

[rok78]

Man, I really wish you guys would stick to the club ho'ing questions! :)

 

I believe that many or most courses (especially on the Ewa plain) use nonpotable water. I read an email (that I wish I had taken more seriously) from the Aloha Section PGA regarding "nonpotable" water a few months ago. Apparently the state is trying to mandate the use of nonpotable water for everything except human consumption by 2010. The PGA (if I'm not mistaken) was against the it because of the unknown negative effects that might occur. Some types of grass like Paspallum (Rick's favorite) may thrive on recycled water while others like a Bermuda may struggle. I'd rather not get into a whole discussion about alternative water sources, nonpotable water use or any other tree hugging issues. I remember the whole can of worms I opened up the last time I gave my two cents about PING policies.

 

As for Mililani, I believe we use a small amount of nonpotable water. Fortunately for us the Waiword not allowed ditch bisects the course and we are able to purchase Waiword not allowed water for irrigation since it is already allocated for agricultural applications.

 

I hope this answers your question because my head really hurts for some reason now. If anyone would like to make corrections, please chime in!

 

like all you old fogey's

BTW, aren't you older by a few years? :beruo:

 

Ha, touche Joey. But by fogey's I was referring to Reid and Tony :black eye: .

 

Thanks for the in-depth response though, that was kind of what I was thinking of. I'm all for water conservation since I started paying the water bill at home, but if it helps Paspallum I may have to re-think it.

[pitbull808]

Ha, touche Joey. But by fogey's I was referring to Reid and Tony :beruo: .

 

Thanks for the in-depth response though, that was kind of what I was thinking of. I'm all for water conservation since I started paying the water bill at home, but if it helps Paspallum I may have to re-think it.

 

 

WOW..how did I miss this thread. :)

 

And Joey..maybe the reason your head hurts is you drank some of that unpottable! :black eye: Which reminds me of an awful trip to Maui while in junior golf. Never drink from the spigot on the side of the tee box! :clapping:

[iyan7]

Yep, almost all courses do have some sort of water conservation. Water is almost always reused for irrigation.

 

Now the otherway around, the water first passes through a filtering/cleanup process before the water gets dumped back on some water hazards (lakes, ponds, streams) on the course. Don't want those turtles, fishes and fowl to eat up all that fertilizer...

 

Hope this makes sense, you fellow fogey... :beruo: