Effluent Irrigation: Golf's Opportunity to "Go Green"

Globally, water is considered a highly conserved resource. Ninety-seven percent of the earth’s water is undrinkable seawater. That leaves just three percent for use by humans. Two percent of which is locked up in polar ice caps, which in reality means only one percent of the water on Earth is available for human consumption.

In recent years, the term “going green” has made much more of the world’s population aware of how they are using the earth’s resources. This “green” thought provocation has also brought to light many new and old ways to recycle and re-use these resources. With more and more attention being brought to the mass usage of water for golf course irrigation, golf course superintendents everywhere have been forced to begin searching for alternative, environmentally sound water sources. One option, that has been around for numerous years, is the use of effluent water. There’s no question that golf courses are leading the way when it comes to use of wastewater for recreational turf grass. Webster’s definition of effluent is as follows:

"sewage or other liquid waste that has been treated in a septic tank or sewage treatment plant"

With the rapid increase in housing developments and the immense growth of towns and cities the availability of fresh water as been on a decline, however, effluent water has become an abundant resource in today’s society. The advancements in being able to treat wastewater to make it available for golf course irrigation has made this the most available alternative source of irrigation water for turf. This has created a great opportunity for superintendents looking to better the reputation of golf courses within the community.

For years, golf courses have received an incredible amount of scrutiny for their “environmentally unsafe” practices. Most people look at all the pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers and can’t help but think courses are detrimental to the already diminishing state of the earth. What the vast majority of the population doesn’t realize is that turfgrass is one of mother nature’s greatest filtration systems. Not only does it filter pollutants from the air, but it also provides a place for effluent water to be filtered again after treatment through the soil. According to James R. Watson’s Wastewater Reuse for Golf Course Irrigation, most turf areas contain enough soil to adequately filter, purify, or reclaim wastewater. This use of effluent water has also prevented it from being truly wasted by being dumped into lakes and ponds as it normally would be. Through irrigation with effluent water, it is also possible to be recharging aquifers through the natural filtering medium of soil. Because of this mass recycling of wastewater, I believe this is one of the biggest positive impacts golf courses can make on their relations with environmental groups.