Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Wetting Agents



The picture demonstrates the improved water uptake and the utilization of water using a soil surfactant or wetting agent on the golf course. You can see the reduce dew pattern on the fairway after an application of a wetting agent. I have been using these wetting agents for many years, this year I have expanded the program somewhat by spraying and also inject directly into the irrigation system. The benefits to the golf course are many: wetting agents help the water penetrate better into the root zone, and research has shown that the irrigation cycles at night can be reduce greatly. I have seen this over the last few years with a reduction of at least 5 million gallons of water saved over the course of the year. The saving of water also has many benefits to the club. One is a the obvious saving millions of gallons of water and with this savings the pump station and well does not have to run as long. The pump station has two 75 horsepower motors and the well has a 45 horse power motor with the reduced irrigation run times the electric bill is substantially lower. Another, benefit that I see is I am able to keep the turf firmer and drier and when i do need to water the wetting agents allow the water to filtrate through the soil profile much better. lastly after big rain events the water does not pool on the turf surface and we can allow carts onto the golf course much faster.

There is a cost in using these products but the when we add up all the benefits it is actually cheaper then not using them

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