By Greg Ellison

(Feb. 20, 2020) Employing treated wastewater to irrigate golf course greens has become an increasingly popular and environmentally sound alternative to tapping ground water at clubs across the U.S., according to a national study of the practice.

Glen Riddle Golf Course Superintendent Butch Howard said advantages have been noted since local courses joined a host of facilities across the country that spray treated wastewater on their fairways instead of drawing on drinking water supplies.

“I think a great alternative is to use recycled water for agriculture purposes, in our case golf courses,” he said.

The spray irrigation procedure at Glen Riddle begins with storing treated effluent in a holding tank.

“The water is transferred to our irrigation pond and then we put it on the course,” he said.

The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America’s Water Task Group and Environmental Programs Committee commissioned Dr. Ali Harivandi, a national researcher and educator, to conduct a study of golf course irrigation using recycled water.

The study defines recycled water as “any water that has undergone one cycle of human use, and after treatment, is suitable for limited reuse, including irrigation.”

Howard said the quality of treated effluent used at Glen Riddle surpasses the output from wastewater plants in previous years.

“The way they treat water now, it comes out a lot cleaner than it used to,” he said. “It’s approaching potable water levels.”

Harivandi’s study found that recycled water is also referred to as reclaimed, effluent, treated effluent or treated sewage water.

The study also outlined three stages of processing wastewater — primary, secondary and tertiary treatment.

Primary treatment typically involves a screening process to purge organic and inorganic solids, while the secondary stage comprises biological processes that break down and metabolize complex organic matter for removal.

The more advanced tertiary wastewater treatment involves steps comparable to preparing potable water, potentially including absorbing compounds with a bed of activated charcoal.

Howard said one consideration, and a problem with using recycled water, are higher concentrations of dissolved mineral salts, such as magnesium, potassium, sodium, sulfate, and chlorides.

“The only thing you really have to watch with effluent water is your salt index, because that can have a negative impact on your plants,” he said.

Harivandi’s study found several conditions that can make damage to vegetation by these salts more likely. These include low annual precipitation, high average temperatures and slow-draining soils. But when wastewater irrigation works, it works well.

“You drive right by, people play golf and there’s no discernable odor,” he said. “It’s not like it’s a port-a-pot smell or something like that.”

The growing trend of using recycled water for agricultural applications also appears to answer the question of how to handle increased wastewater disposal needs that follow population sprawl.

“As these housing developments go up, municipalities have to find a way to get rid of this treated water,” he said.

Howard said the potential uses for treated wastewater are not limited to golf courses, and that irrigation is always better than pumping treated effluent into area waterways.

“Now we use it for irrigation water, which filters the water yet again as it goes through the soil,” he said.