CASE STUDIES FEATURE New irrigation system for South Australia’s Morphettville Racecourse SNAPSHOT • Think Water Adelaide recently completed stage 1 works of a new irrigation system for Morphettville Racecourse. • The racecourse crew wanted a maintenance-free system with good uniformity, the capacity to irrigate the chutes and remote control. • The system was designed to be able to deliver adequate water to maintain turf quality even in the driest summers. It can be completely depressurised during race days to ensure sprinklers aren’t set off unexpectedly. • The system comprises four pumps, 191 sprinklers on the course proper, and additional sprinklers to cover the chutes, HDPE poly pipe and a two-wire control system for ease of maintenance and installation. • The new irrigation system has reduced watering windows and considerably reduced labour time that was required to maintain the previous system.
The team at Think Water Adelaide recently designed and completed stage 1 of the installation of a new maintenance-free irrigation system for South Australia’s premier racetrack, Morphettville Racecourse. They achieved this within just three months between racing seasons and with the logistical challenge of having to work around training times. Irrigation Australia Journal spoke to the team to find out what was involved.
Morphettville Racecourse is home to South Australia’s largest racing club, the South Australian Jockey Club. The racecourse has two racetracks – a 2307 m course proper and a 2100 inner track, known as the Parks Track – as well as extensive training facilities.
New system needed The 20-year-old irrigation system was becoming a maintenance nightmare. The track crew were spending considerable time on troubleshooting and maintenance – hours that could have been dedicated to other projects on the course. Racing Operations Manager Justin Groves says, “We were pretty much running on one and a half pumps for the last few seasons. All pumps needed replacement, the filtration system was not working to capacity and had many leaks. We had the challenge of having to run new cable often, due to faulty wiring that had perished. The whole system was not running to the standard we needed, and this compromised our surface”. Groves says the main features they needed in a new system were: • a system that works hydraulically, ensuring improved uniformity and reduced run time • increased sprinkler capacity dedicated to irrigating the chutes instead of using temporary sprinklers with hoses • remote control capability for system management • individual heads controlled by the push of a button on the phone.
Within just three months between racing seasons, the team at Think Water Adelaide designed and completed stage 1 works of a new maintenance-free irrigation system for Morphettville Racecourse.
SUMMER 2023
25