ISO/DIS 16075-7

Guidelines for treated wastewater use for irrigation projects — Part 7: Golf courses and other sports fields

Scope

The level of water stress (freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources) is steadily increasing worldwide. A single use of water is increasingly perceived as an underutilization of a valuable resource and as an environmentally unsustainable practice. Population growth is driving an increasing competition for freshwater between agriculture and urban areas, as well as among cities. Maintaining green lawns in parks, recreational areas, golf courses and other sports (e.g., football, rugby, cricket) fields requires significant irrigation, raising questions about the amount of water consumed in it. Besides the implementation of adequate irrigation practices, the replacement of freshwater water resources for irrigation of turfgrass by treated wastewater (TWW) is a water conservation measure with significant potential.

Golf course developments in arid and semiarid regions have frequently been controversial because there is a public perception that golf course irrigation significantly reduces freshwater resources availability and may impact the environment. In recent years, there has been a considerable demand for golf courses to adopt environmentally sustainable strategies, including water reuse for irrigation. Additionally, the fact that the availability of TWW for irrigation is relatively constant increases the golf courses’ resilience to drought. The diversification of water sources potentially used for irrigation has a positive impact on activities associated with golf, such as tourism, thus contributing to regional economic development.

If swimming pools are integrated into sports complexes and training centers, the water from filter cleaning or showers can be recovered and reused for irrigation of green areas or sports fields. Thus, the use of recovered waters from swimming pool operations for the irrigation of sports fields presents a significant opportunity to reduce the exploitation of freshwater resources.

Sports fields with a good quality turfgrass cover reduce the probability of injury of the athletes and promote ball roll and bounce in good conditions. However, turfgrass can be affected by the reuse water quality, which differs from that of freshwater resources or rainfall. Of particular importance, are salts in TWW.

This International Standard presents:
- Standard terms and definitions;
- Irrigation of turfgrass in golf courses and other sports fields;
- Public health aspects related to irrigation of turfgrass fields;
- Agronomic aspects related to irrigation of turfgrass fields.

None of the parts of ISO 16075 are intended to be used for certification purposes.