Site Reports: Singleton Rugby Union Oval
Impressive Demo by Brooks Irrigation

Singleton Oval, Hunter Valley

The Large Turf Field Day held in December last year at Singleton Rugby Union Club in the Hunter Valley NSW, was an event to both support the local community and promote recent advancements in irrigation technology usually not easily accessed in the bush. Around forty shire park managers, golf course superintendents and local groundsmen were invited to attend the show to learn about new Rain Bird products and the latest installation methods in the heavy turf industry.

The event run by Brooks Irrigation with the support of Rain Bird Australia certainly put on a show! The team set about installing and commissioning a Rain Bird automatic irrigation system at Singleton Rugby Union Oval including a Lowara pump, Techsys pump control and tank set-ups.

A big job by any standards, but this one had to be finished in double quick time. The Brooks Irrigation team began on the morning of Wednesday 10 December knowing full well that a round of the club’s touch football competition was due to take place the following afternoon and evening.

Using GPS and GIS techniques, supplied by Brooks Survey, to establish the correct set-out and trenchless pipe laying meant the job was completed on schedule including as-builts and asset register. The field was put back into playing condition with minimal down-time and the OH&S issues often created by recent trenching on a playing surface were negated.

The installed system includes the use of Rain Bird model 8005 pop-up sprinklers with ‘Rain Curtain’ nozzles which emphasised the product’s superior water use efficiency. Moreover, the 8005 has many built-in vandal resistant features.

Visitors learned how the Rain Bird automatic irrigation system could be expanded into a Centralised Irrigated Control System, such as the Rain Bird Site Control or Maxicom, and the Multi-Program Rain Bird ESP-LX+ Commercial Controller was also on display.

The touch football competition kicked off on time on the newly-irrigated oval but unfortunately we can’t bring you the results!