Golf Industry Products
Improve Your Bottom Line With Efficient Water Management
Water management is a significant issue at golf courses. Competing needs for water require efficient management to avoid the depletion of groundwater, impairment of water quality and possible interference with other users. Degradation of water quality or quantity can lead to regulatory controls and possible expensive litigation. Solinst offers cost effective instrumentation ranging from hand held meters to automated devices for measuring and recording water levels and general water quality.
Simple and Easy to Use
Solinst instrumentation is very user friendly. Superintendents can easily use these products to record the appropriate information to meet monitoring requirements.
Accurate and Reliable
Solinst instrumentation leads the market in quality and reliability. Instrument design has incorporated improvements in technology and has developed through extensive field testing.
Cost Effective
Automated data recording can provide substantial cost savings to golf courses where regulated monitoring is required, or where water interference with other users is a potential issue.
How can measuring water levels and water quality parameters improve water management at your golf course?
Water management is an important aspect of any golf course superintendent’s job. Water management is necessary to ensure that the golf course has sufficient water to sustain its playable condition over a long period of time. At the same time the course must not have a negative impact to the watershed and it must not interfere with the rights of adjacent property owners who may use water for domestic, agricultural, commercial or recreational purposes.
Improving Water Management Can:
• Provide detailed evidence against claims
• Monitor changes in the quality of runoff
• Demonstrate impacts from seasonal variations and changes in chemical management
• Provide data to meet regulatory requirements
The measurement of water levels and general water quality parameters such as temperature and conductivity is fundamental to assessing water resources on a regional scale such as a watershed, or at a local scale such as a golf course.
Groundwater and surface water are inextricably linked.
In many cases, groundwater supports water levels in streams and ponds. Any long term decline in groundwater levels will eventually result in lower flow in streams and lower levels in ponds. Regulators use water levels to determine how much water can be safely withdrawn from a watershed without causing adverse effects.
Water quality concerns dictate the use of detailed monitoring.
Water quality parameters can indicate the general chemical condition of water resources at a certain point in time. Any deterioration over time can alert regulators to potential problems in the watershed and trigger more action to identify the source of the problem. Golf course superintendents can monitor changes in the quality of runoff from chemical application through the use of surrogate parameters such as conductivity. Long term monitoring by superintendents can demonstrate impacts from seasonal variation in rainfall, growth of vegetation, changes to course layout or changes to chemical management.
Manual Water Level Monitoring
Water Level Meters
Meters are suitable for periodic measurement of water levels in wells, ponds, streams, sumps, drains and other locations. Solinst offers rugged and reliable water level meters designed to give accurate readings that will meet all regulatory requirements. The tape is permanently marked each 1/100 ft. or each millimeter. The stainless steel probe attached to the tape is precise and corrosion proof.
The Model 101 Water Level Meter is the groundwater industry standard for portable hand operated meters. The dog-bone tape design utilizes two stranded stainless steel conductors encased within high quality polyethylene. This reduces friction with the well casing, and results in smoother running operation and longer tape life. The well-balanced reel is free standing, with a carrying handle. It is equipped with a brake and probe holder. An easy-to-access 9V battery powers the buzzer and light, which activate on contact with water. (For more information see Model 101 Data Sheet.)
The Mini 101 Water Level Meter is conveniently small and suitable for measuring water levels in narrow diameter and shallow wells. The tape is available in lengths of 30 ft., 65 ft., 10m or 20m and components have a maximum diameter of 0.3” (7.3mm).
Automated Water Level Monitoring Pressure Transducers
Datalogging of water levels can be very beneficial at golf courses where groundwater or surface water interference is an issue or where compliance monitoring is required. Monitoring water level and water quality data can save substantial amounts of money in the event that claims are made against the golf course regarding adverse changes to either the quantity or quality of local water.
Pressure transducers are ideal for permanent or semi-perminent installations in wells, ponds, streams, tanks and discharge pipes, where accurate readings and continuous monitoring of water levels are required.
Leveloggers
Solinst offers the Model 3001 Levelogger line of dataloggers that use pressure transducers to obtain automatic recordings of water level changes over time. The Levelogger combines a pressure transducer, temperature sensor, datalogger and 10-year battery in a small sealed housing. It is easy to deploy in an observation well and easy to program. Measurements can be taken at chosen time intervals as small as 0.5 sec. Alternatively, measurements can be recorded on an ‘event’ basis, where less frequent measurements are taken routinely, until a significant change takes place, then more frequent measurements will be recorded until conditions return to normal.
Leveloggers can be suspended in an observation well using a direct read cable. This allows data to be quickly downloaded without disturbing the logger itself. An alternative configuration, that reduces up-front capital costs, involves suspending the Levelogger on a simple wireline. The logger can be removed from the well and the data downloaded to a laptop or the logger can be taken back to the office.
To offer highly accurate recordings, downloaded data is automatically compensated for temperature variations, and should also be compensated for changes in barometric pressure. The easiest and most accurate way to do this is to locate a Barologger above water in one well on the course. A software wizard can then be used to perform the compensation at the touch of a button. (For more information see Model 3001 Data Sheet.)
Water Quality Measurements
General water chemistry can be an important consideration in establishing baseline groundwater or surface water quality conditions within a watershed. Impacts from golf course operations can then be assessed against this. Water chemistry can provide an indication of infiltration or runoff of chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers which may impact surface water or groundwater. It can also be useful to monitor the effects of using recycled water. Solinst has developed a number of water quality probes that are suitable for golf course applications.
LTC Levelogger
The LTC combines a 4-electrode platinum conductivity sensor with a pressure transducer, thermistor, 8-year battery and a datalogger all within a factory-sealed maintenance-free stainless steel housing. The Levelogger is a Schlumberger product and is exclusive to Solinst
The Levelogger software is easy-to-use. Programming is very fast, using just one screen. There is ample space for site and location information, and the choice of sampling regime takes just a moment.Calibration is a snap, as the software guides you quickly through the process. Data can be downloaded at any time and can be displayed in graph or table format. Temperature compensation is automatic, but temperature variations can also be displayed. A handy Barometric Compensation Wizard guides you through the compensation process with depth data, then the data can be exported to other programs, if desired.
Please See Data Sheet Model 3001 for more information on Leveloggers. Rental units are available.
107 TLC Meter
The Model 107 TLC Meter displays accurate measurements of conductivity and temperature on an LCD display that rotates for convenience of use. Water levels and probe depth measurements are read off the accurately marked Solinst flat tape. It is ideal for profiling salt-water intrusion, road salt impairments, tracer tests and to give a general indication of chemical contamination levels.
The TLC Meter uses a ‘smart’ conductivity sensor with platinum electrodes to read conductivity from 0 – 80,000µS with an accuracy of 2% of reading or better. Readings stabilize in 20 seconds.
The flat tape is permanently marked each millimeter or 1/100 ft. and is available in lengths up to 300 ft. (100 m). A Carrying bag and tape guide are included.
Telemetry Systems
Telemetry systems allow the electronic transmission of data from a field location to another location. Telemetry can provide a cost effective way of collecting and managing data from a number of sites, avoiding the need to deploy field personnel. Readings are electronically transmitted from the field instrumentation to a central location. Telemetry systems can be applied at individual golf courses, which have several monitoring stations, or by organizations managing a number of golf courses each having one or more monitoring stations.
Solinst has developed the Model 9100 Telemetry System (STS) for use specifically with the Levelogger. Software provides easy set-up identification of individual loggers, data collection and data management. The STS uses low power electronics to minimize power requirements during operation, and requires no power at all in standby mode. Power is supplied by battery. The STS can be operated using hardwire landlines, radio frequency, or analog or digital cellular technology. (See Model 9100 Data Sheet.)
Automated Water Level Monitoring Pressure Transducers
Datalogging of water levels can be very beneficial at golf courses where groundwater or surface water interference is an issue or where compliance monitoring is required. Monitoring water level and water quality data can save substantial amounts of money in the event that claims are made against the golf course regarding adverse changes to either the quantity or quality of local water.
Pressure transducers are ideal for permanent or semi-perminent installations in wells, ponds, streams, tanks and discharge pipes, where accurate readings and continuous monitoring of water levels are required.
Cost Effective
The cost of not having sufficient good quality data can be substantial in cases where interference or degradation of groundwater or surface water is charged against a golf course. Golf course owners can protect themselves against costly legal and professional fees by monitoring water levels and general water quality parameters. Over time, this database provides a historical record of the response of the watershed to golf course operations and can be used to demonstrate compliance, or to demonstrate acceptable impact.
Solinst equipment is rugged and reliable and will provide data of sufficient quality to meet requirements of regulators, water resource professionals and lawyers. Solinst equipment is easy to use. Golf course superintendents can easily install equipment and manage the data sufficient for most requirements.
Automated monitoring with dataloggers and telemetry can be cost effective where several sites are being monitored, since it eliminates the need for professional field personnel.
Solinst Canada Ltd.
35 Todd Rd.
Georgetown, ON
L7G 4R8
Phone: (800) 661-2023; (905) 873-2255
Fax: (905) 873-1992
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