A 27-hole championship golf course is now even more sustainable thanks to a recent Lowara pump installation. After their first year of use, the irrigation pumps have reduced energy by 60 percent compared to the previous system.
Golf della Montecchia regularly hosts premier golf events, such as the Challenge Tour and Alps Tour. The golf club is located in Padua, Italy, a few kilometers from Venice. It strives to offer a superior golfing experience with a flat, technical course and difficult water challenges. The course’s innovative drainage system also makes it possible to play even in bad weather conditions.
Perfectly maintaining the championship golf course requires careful planning. More than 1,200 sprinklers are hidden underground, connected in a carefully orchestrated network. The grass needs to be given the right amount of water at the right time of day, varying greatly depending on the season and weather.
A long-term focus on the environment
Golf della Montecchia has a long history of preserving and improving the natural resources at its disposal. In 2000, it joined the “Committed to Green” European Environmental Certification Program. This program highlights the positive role that golf can have on the environment and community, especially when following guidelines for environmental sustainability.
One of the first steps the golf course took was to computerize its irrigation system. This saved water and energy with more calibrated distribution. Golf della Montecchia also reduced its use of chemicals, to better protect the environment.
In 2004, the club began working with the University of Pisa Certes and the Italian Golf Federation Green Section to research warm-season turfgrasses. This type of grass requires up to 50 percent less water than traditional turfgrass species. For its work, the club in 2007 was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Technical and Scientific Commission of the Committed to Green program.
In 2012, the club introduced Bermuda grass on fairways and tees to dramatically reduce water, fertilizer and pesticide use. Bermuda grass enabled Golf della Montecchia to reduce water use by 60 percent and herbicides by 80 percent, and completely eliminate the use of fungicides and insecticides.
Optimizing irrigation pumps
Recently the golf club has started the process of redesigning its complex irrigation system. The objective is to further decrease water and electricity consumption. The first part of this process was replacing its irrigation pumps.
Xylem’s Lowara pumps were selected not only for their excellent performance characteristics, but also for the support that Xylem’s technical experts were able to offer. The company Canella & Vigo Srl was responsible for replacing the golf course’s previous nine pumps with six Lowara pumps.
The pumping unit consists of six vertical multistage pumps from the Lowara e-SV Series, four for regular use, one as a reserve, and another for smaller water requirements and winter use. Each pump has a HYDROVAR intelligent control system, which accurately adapts to the extremely variable water demand.
This powerful pumping system efficiently meets the requirements of the 1,200 sprinklers throughout the course. In the first year of operation, the new system has reduced energy by 60 percent compared to the previous installation and the same amount of water use.
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