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Your Water Partner: Managing Water from Source to Soil
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Welcome to The Turf Zone podcast. This episode covers managing water from source to soil.
Effective water management has always been central to turfgrass health. Today, managing water is about much more than deciding when and how much to irrigate.
Weather patterns are becoming increasingly difficult to predict. Extended periods of drought and extreme heat can put turf under intense moisture stress. High humidity and prolonged periods of wet weather can increase disease pressure. Thunderstorms and torrential downpours can deliver more water than the soil can absorb, contributing to runoff, erosion and nutrient leaching. Strong winds and rapidly changing conditions can also make it more difficult to apply products accurately and efficiently.
For turf managers, every one of these conditions creates a different challenge, and often, one extreme is followed quickly by another. A long stretch of hot, dry weather may suddenly give way to several inches of rain. A saturated soil profile can be followed by drying conditions and heat. A period of high humidity can increase disease pressure just as turf is already under environmental stress.
The result is a constant balancing act: getting enough water to the rootzone without wasting it, making applications count without putting products where they don’t belong, and maintaining healthy, consistent turf while working within increasingly demanding environmental conditions. The challenge isn’t simply getting water onto the property; it’s managing water effectively throughout its entire journey.
That’s where The Aquatrols Company can become your ultimate water partner. Our approach to water management extends from the water source to the spray tank, across the target, and into the soil. Across each stage, our technologies are designed to help turf managers manage water more effectively, optimize applications, and make better use of the resources they already have.
When water is involved at every stage of turf management, water management shouldn’t be viewed as one isolated task, it should be considered as part of the entire process.
At the Source: Start with the Water You Have
Effective water management begins at the source. For many golf courses, ponds and reservoirs are an important part of the irrigation system. These water sources provide the supply needed to maintain turf through changing environmental conditions, making their management an essential part of the bigger water picture.
Poor water quality can create challenges that extend well beyond the pond itself. Organic matter, waste and sludge can accumulate over time, affecting water clarity and quality while creating unpleasant odors and increasing the need for intensive management practices.
Precise Pond is designed to address the problem at its source. Its concentrated, function-specific biological formulation accelerates the breakdown of partially decomposed organic matter, waste and sludge that accumulate at the bottom of lakes and ponds. With 20 to 30 times more activity than ordinary biological products, Precise Pond helps improve water clarity and quality while reducing the need for harvesting, dredging and algaecides.
By helping manage accumulated organic matter, turf managers and property managers can take a more efficient approach to maintaining their water resources rather than relying solely on more intensive corrective measures.
The appearance of a pond or reservoir can also be an important part of the overall property. Aquatrols offers professional-grade water shading products to help manage this.
Jet Black EZ SoluPak creates a deep, reflective black appearance while reducing sunlight penetration into the water. True Blue EZ SoluPak provides a natural blue appearance for ponds, lakes and decorative water features while also reducing sunlight penetration. Reducing available sunlight can help slow photosynthesis and inhibit algae growth, providing another tool for managing water at the source.
While source-water management may seem separate from what happens on the turf, it is actually the first step in understanding and managing the water that ultimately reaches the playing surface.
The goal throughout the water-management process is to make the most of the available water. This becomes especially important during drought or extended periods of heat, when water resources may be under greater demand. It also matters when significant rainfall creates an abundance of water in a short period of time.
In the Tank: Water Quality Matters Before the Application Begins
Once water leaves the source it becomes part of another critical process: the spray tank. Every spray application is a combination of water and products designed to accomplish a specific objective. Water is not simply a carrier though; its characteristics can influence how products interact and perform.
Water quality, pH and tank-mix compatibility can all play a role in an application. If conditions in the tank aren’t optimized, products may not perform the way it’s intended.
Greg Caldwell of Pete Dye River Course says “This year we have taken water samples from our Municipal water source and learned the pH is reading at 8.1 We have implemented New Balance into the program in all spray tanks to help buffer the pH below 7 to prevent alkaline hydrolysis of our tank mix sprays.”
Aquatrols’ adjuvants, like Low-Volume Spray Enhancer, Convert and New Balance, help turf managers address spray-tank conditions and tank-mix compatibility, supporting applications before they ever leave the nozzle.
LV combats hard water cations, mitigates high pH degradation and maximizes low-volume efficacy, while Convert eliminates chemical curdling, clears “cottage cheese” precipitates and reduces equipment maintenance. This is an important part of maximizing efficiency. When turf managers invest time, labor, water and products into an application, getting the most from that investment matters.
The question isn’t just, “What are we applying?” It’s also, “Are we preparing the application to perform as effectively as possible?” By considering water quality and tank conditions as part of the application process, turf managers can take another step towards making every application count.
Through the Air: Getting the Application Where It Belongs
Once an application leaves the spray tank, water management shouldn’t stop. The spray has to travel through the air before it reaches its intended target, and environmental conditions can make that journey more complicated.
Wind, heat, humidity and changing weather can all affect application conditions. A weather window that looks favorable at the beginning of an application can change quickly, creating challenges for maintaining precision. For turf managers, off-target movement isn’t simply an application concern, it can also mean wasted product, reduced efficiency and resources being directed somewhere other than where they were intended to go.
Border 2.0 is designed to help reduce off-target movement and improve deposition, helping keep applications where they’re intended to go. Keeping the application controlled through the air helps turf managers better protect their investment in the products being applied.
Scott Mauldin of Bayville Golf Club shares “Bayville uses Border 2.0 when spraying native areas and herbicide sprays in the Bermudagrass to enhance weed control. Border 2.0 provides some added benefit since we are a breezy golf course site!”
It also supports a broader environmental objective: putting the right product in the right place. When conditions are challenging, application efficiency becomes even more important.
On the Target: Making Every Application Count
Once an intended target is reached, coverage, adhesion and retention become the next priorities. A product needs to reach the plant and remain where it is intended to work.
Border 2.0 helps improve deposition and coating, helping to keep products in place and protect the investments in the tank mix. Solarous approaches turf performance from a different perspective. Rather than simply functioning as a traditional green pigment, it combines a natural-looking green colorant with UV radiant technologies and an advanced surfactant system. This technology is designed to support coverage and adhesion while helping turf manage harsh sunlight and environmental stress.
Jeremy Phillips says Kanawha Golf Courses “After I spray Solarous, the feedback is immediate – I get a ton of comments from players saying, ‘Wow, what did you do to those greens?’ and ‘Man, those greens look amazing!’ But the visual impact is only half the story. The added benefit of UV reduction is a lifesaver; it gives the turf the protection it needs to beat the heat and pushes the greens right through severe summer stress without breaking a sweat.”
That distinction matters because appearance is only one part of what turf managers are trying to achieve. During periods of extreme heat, intense sunlight and other environmental stresses, maintaining turf performance can become increasingly challenging. The goal isn’t simply to make turf look better. The more efficiently an application can be deposited, distributed and retained on the intended target, the greater the opportunity to maximize the value of the resources that went into making that application. In a world where weather conditions can change by the hour, maximizing every application is an important part of responsible resource management.
In the Soil: Where Water Management Becomes Turf Management
Ultimately, water has to make its way into the soil and rootzone, and this is where some of the most visible challenges of water management occur.
During heavy rainfall, soils may receive more water than they can absorb. Water then can move across the surface rather than infiltrating into the rootzone, contributing to runoff and potentially carrying nutrients and other materials with it.
On the other hand, prolonged heat and drought can create conditions where soils become difficult to wet. Water may move unevenly through the soil profile, leaving some areas adequately hydrated while other areas remain dry.
The result can be inconsistent moisture, stressed turf and increased management demands. Wetting agents such as Zipline, Dispatch and Vivax Oro are designed to help improve water movement and distribution through the soil profile. Better infiltration and more uniform moisture distribution can help turf managers make better use of the water they apply, whether they’re managing prolonged dry conditions or trying to recover from extreme rainfall.
Trevor Hedgepath of Kinloch Golf Club says “We’ve been all-in on Zipline for our putting greens the past two summers. The distinguishing characteristic that we have observed is the ability to uniformly wet the profile, prevent LDS almost completely all the while avoiding a wet surface after an application. Our biggest challenge now is trying to expand its use to not only greens but all closely mown turf.”
One Water Cycle.
Many Challenges.
The weather doesn’t always cooperate. A stretch of extreme heat can increase moisture demand and put turf under stress. Humidity can follow, bringing increased disease pressure. A prolonged dry period can suddenly give way to a thunderstorm or torrential downpour. These extremes create a complicated balancing act for
turf managers.
A sudden heavy rain doesn’t solve drought when the turf is already stressed and can’t absorb the water effectively. Likewise, after extended wet conditions, a return to high temperatures can rapidly change the turf’s moisture needs.
Managing these challenges requires turf managers to respond to conditions rather than rely on a one-size-fits-all approach.
It also means looking at water management as a connected process:
Where does the water come from?
What happens to it in the spray tank?
How effectively does the application travel through the air?
How well does it reach and remain on the intended target?
Where does that water go once it reaches the soil?
Each question is connected to the next. An opportunity to improve efficiency at one stage can support better performance at the stages that follow. Water management is often discussed in terms of irrigation, but the conversation is much broader than that. Every spray application relies on water. Every application has to move from the tank to the target, and every application ultimately interacts with the plant, soil and surrounding environment. Water management and application efficiency are closely connected.
Optimizing tank conditions can help prepare an application for success. Reducing off-target movement can help keep products where they belong. Improving deposition and retention can help maximize coverage. Improving water movement through the soil can help turf make better use of available moisture. Together, these steps support a more efficient approach to managing the resources involved in turf care.
This is also where water management intersects with environmental stewardship. Using water efficiently is important. So is using nutrients and crop protection products responsibly. Reducing runoff and leaching, improving application efficiency and keeping products where they’re intended to go can all contribute to a more thoughtful approach to turf management.
Since you can’t control the weather, understanding how water behaves is one way to help make better decisions as conditions change.
During drought, that may mean focusing on getting available water into the rootzone and making it available to the turf for as long as possible. During periods of extreme rainfall, it may mean focusing on infiltration, distribution and reducing the potential for runoff and leaching.
When application conditions are challenging, it may mean looking for ways to improve deposition and reduce off-target movement. When environmental stress is high, it may mean looking beyond appearance to technologies that support coverage, adhesion and turf performance. The common thread is water. Managing it effectively requires looking beyond a single irrigation event, product or application and considering the entire journey.
At The Aquatrols Company, we believe water management should be considered across the entire process. From the source, to the tank, through the air, onto the target and into the soil, our technologies are designed to help turf managers better manage water and optimize the products they rely on. Each solution addresses a different point in the water journey. Together, they represent a broader approach to water management; one focused on efficiency, performance and stewardship.
Being a water partner isn’t about simply helping you apply water, we’re here to help you understand the entire journey of water and help manage it better at every step.
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