Watering the grass is getting technical

Published on 20 March 2019

Watering the grass in some of the Byron Shire’s busiest parks is going high tech with new irrigation systems being installed. 

The irrigation systems are going into Apex Park, Dening Park and Railway Park in Byron Bay, three public spaces that have constant foot traffic all year around,

“Apex Park would be one of the most used parks in NSW with hundreds of thousands of people walking through, sitting, dancing and taking in the view every year and keeping the grass alive is a constant battle for Council,” Michael Matthews, Manager Open Spaces, said.

“While we don’t have figures for the number of people who use Apex Park we do know that in peak holiday season the toilets in the park are flushed more than 60,000 times a month.

“That’s almost 2,000 flushes a day which is quite phenomenal and demonstrates just how many people there are in Apex Park in the summer months,” he said

“We currently use sprinklers to water the grass but this is inefficient and time consuming, and we are constantly fencing off areas to either re-lay turf, or rest the grass so it can recover,” he said.

The new hi-tech irrigation system will be laid underneath the grass and there will be sensors installed to monitor weather conditions, and things such as soil moisture, evaporation, wind levels and rainfall and the amount of water being put into the area will then be automatically be adjusted accordingly.

“These systems will be used every night as required and we are hoping they will not only keep the grass alive, but save a lot of time, water and money in the long term,” Mr Matthews said.

Council will also be using recycled water in the irrigation systems which is a great use of the highly treated water that is coming out of the sewage treatment plant.

“Work has already started in Apex Park and this should be completed and the park operational again by Easter,” Mr Matthews said.

“Because this is such a popular park in an iconic location we will be working as fast as possible to get the new irrigation system in place and the grass re-laid,” he said.

The installation of irrigation in Dening Park will start after Easter.

For more information contact Michael Matthew, Manager Open Spaces and Resource Recovery, on 6626 7156.