Clarification: Use of RO Water in Golf Industry Mag Article

I just finished reading an interesting article in Golf Course Industry Magazine, written by Jason Stahl, about the types and uses of golf course irrigation water. In the article, Mr, Stahl refers to comments of Dr. Dara Park, a soil and water specialist with the Clemson University School of Agricultural, Forest and Environmental Sciences. Dr. Park's informative information is very good but an important clarification is necessary regarding Dr. Parks comment about the use of RO water.

Dr. Park does not recommend the use of RO water because it is devoid of any beneficial minerals required by greens and fairways. In my many years of experience designing and supplying RO systems for GC irrigation, I have never seen highly purified RO water applied directly to the turf. Most RO systems are utilized to reduce salinity found in brackish water wells. The RO product water will not be "purified" by rather it will contain about 200 - 350 ppm TDS. This is an excellent water quality for irrigation however it is rare that even this quality water is applied directly to fairways and greens. The product water from Golf Course RO systems is directed either to an irrigation water pond or to storage tanks. Irrigation ponds are the most common. These are the ponds that the irrigation pumping systems draw their supply. The RO water which is nearly devoid of Chlorides, Sodium, and Bicarbonates mixed with the pond water and the TDS increases do to natural organics and other non-harmful substance in the pond water. In a storage tank, the RO water mixes with airborne substances and rain water.

There are GC facilities that use their RO systems to treat municipal water often because the cost to do so is lower for them than buying water from the public utility. The RO product will be very pure but once it is mixed with pond water the TDS increases to a beneficial level. Also, some GC superintendents inject additives into the RO product to meet particular growth objectives.

In conclusion, wherever a consistent supply of low cost good quality water is not present, RO systems are an excellent tool for creating irrigation quality water from otherwise unusable alternative water supplies.