Upcycled irrigation cabinets for fertigation By the City of Cockburn
The City of Cockburn has recorded water savings of approximately 5,000kL this financial year, thanks to a new fertigation unit, wetting agents, kelp products and compost. Atwell Oval is located on Brenchley Drive in Atwell, 21kms south of Perth, in the City of Cockburn. It features two Senior AFL Ovals, two cricket match wickets and four lane cricket practice nets. The oval is used for AFL in winter, cricket in summer (both junior and senior for both), regular high school use and interschool athletic carnivals. City staff need to manage sting nematode areas in the turf adjacent to the club room and interchange. Staff conducted trials of indemnify nematicide adjacent to the clubroom in spring to reduce the impact of sting nematode. This seemed to reduce the impact of nematode damage in combination with compost dusting and it helped the turf to survive during the summer period.
32
A Baileys Terracube was installed at Atwell Oval in 2018, to apply wetting agent and kelp products via liquid injection to assist with wear effects of sting nematode and help with turf nutrition and water penetration. The fertigation system is running weekly in summer, alternating between kelp and liquid wetting agent products at the beginning of the irrigation season. Further water savings have been achieved by truck watering turfed-over cricket pitches, instead of using the irrigation system to water-in at initial establishment.
The Overflow - Winter 2020
Lessons learned at Atwell Oval have prompted the Council to install a custom fertigation unit at Beale Park in Spearwood in June 2020. They were able save approximately $5,000 by engaging local contractors to undertake modifications to ‘upcycling’ an existing irrigation cabinet. Modifications included installing float valves, moving the controller lower and installing shelves and vents. Refurbishment of a further six cabinets is planned for parks across the locality.
