Evolving EquipmentWashing Technology andWhat's in That WaterThe environmental and technological aspects ofcleaning golf course maintenance equipment.BY A. MARTIN PETROVIC, PH.D.

Golf courses

should evaluate

their equipment

wash areas to

ensure that these

important parts

of maintenance

facilities are not

impacting the

environment.The

latest technology

involves using a

recycling system

that treats the

wash water.

""he technology of cleaning turf-grass equipment has been anever-evolving science and art.

There are several basic types of systemsused today, including a simple hose onbare soil, some type of wash pad withor without collection of the washwater, and state-of-the-art recyclingwash stations. The simplest systemsoften involve using a hose to wash offthe clippings and any other debris fromequipment and allowing the wash waterto percolate into the ground. Concreteor asphalt wash pads are commonlyused; sometimes they are covered foruse during rainy weather, and they havesome outlet for the wash water. Someusers of this type have a screen tocollect clippings so as not to clog the

water discharge. The latest technologyinvolves using enclosed structures withrecycling systems that treat the washwater. Some of the systems collectclippings and employ biological andchemical treatment of the wash water,using technology that has been used forcar washing. Golf course superinten-dents also have used compressed air toinitially clean the clippings off mowersto reduce the amount of maintenancerequired for the grass-filtering system.

Which types of equipment washingsystems are golf courses using? Arethere laws regulating which type ofsystem a golf course must use? What isin the wash water, and should there bea concern about where it is going?Cornell University was funded by the

New York State Department of Envi-ronmental Conservation (NYSDEC)with USEPA Region II Peconic EstuaryProgram funding to answer these ques-tions for the Peconic Estuary region ofeastern Long Island, N.Y. The resultsprovide insight into the topic and maybe useful to other regions of thecountry.

REGULATIONS ON TURFEQUIPMENT WASHING ANDWASTEWATER DISCHARGETo answer the question about whetherthere are laws pertaining to turf equip-ment washwater systems and what hap-pens to the discharge, we conducteda survey of several governmentalagencies at the federal (USEPA), state

S E P T E M B E R - O C T O B E R 2 0 0 5 2 1

Agency

Table ISummary of current laws pertaining to turf equipment washing and discharge of wash wastewater.

Requirement forWashing Systems

Requirements forWastewater Discharge Handling

USEPA None at present If the wastewater were to be discharged into a storm water runoff system* in small urbanizedareas (population of 100,000 or more), then USEPA Storm Water Phase II rules (permitting andreporting requirements) may apply.

NYSDEC None at present If pesticides, oils/grease, and/or fertilizers were being discharged into a storm water runoffsystem, then this type of practice could be considered a point source of pollution and wouldrequire a storm water discharge permit. Discharge of wash wastewater with low concentrationsof pesticides, oils/grease, and/or fertilizers onto the ground would not require a permit.

Suffolk County None at present None at present.

Local Towns None at present None at present, but issues of equipment wastewater disposal would be reviewed on proposednew golf courses during site plan review.

*Storm water runoff systems include surface water that enters draining ditches, storm sewers, streams, or other connected surface water bodies like wetlands, ponds,lakes, and estuaries.

(NYSDEC), and county (Suffolk)levels, and several local towns in theregion (Riverhead, Southold, andSouthampton). A summary of theinformation obtained is found in Table1. In general, there are no local, county,state, or federal requirements for turfequipment wash pads or systems ongolf courses or other turf operations atpresent, and none are being contem-plated for eastern Long Island. None ofthe golf courses surveyed on the eastend of Long Island had a permitrequired by USEPA or NYSDEC forits turf equipment washing wastewaterdischarge, even though it is possible thatsuch permits may be needed as outlinedin Table 1. It is advisable to check yourstate, county, and local towns for lawspertaining to turf equipment washingsystem requirements and rules relatingto washwater discharge.

WHAT SYSTEMS AREGOLF COURSES USING?To determine the range of types andlocations of commercially availablewash pad technology used on easternLong Island (and the northeasternU.S.), information was gathered fromgolf course superintendents on the eastend of Long Island, wash pad equip-ment suppliers, and others as to thescope and nature of systems used. Theinformation obtained included the typeof washing equipment, where and how

rinseate was handled, where and howclippings that were collected duringwashing were handled, the time requiredto wash equipment, and the costsassociated with the system and/ormaintenance of the system.

It was found that most of the 20east-end Long Island golf courses thatresponded to the survey (out of 35sent) use a low-tech equipment wash-ing and wastewater disposal system.Seventy-five percent of the surveyrespondents reported washing equip-ment on an uncovered concrete orasphalt pad, and only 5 percent used arecycling type system. Only two didnot discharge the wash wastewater ontothe ground, to a dry well, grassy swale,or ditch. One course recycled andreused the wash water, while the otherhad the water held in a tank that wasperiodically pumped and removed fromthe golf course.

EQUIPMENT WASHINGRECYCLING SYSTEMOPTIONSWe found six wash pads specificallydesigned for golf courses and turfsettings. They are the Washmaster 36by RGF Environmental Group, theMi-T-M Biological Waste Water Treat-ment System, ESD Waste2Water Inc.,Watermaze bioremediation system andcarbon filter system, Wastech System,and the Carbtrol System. These systems

take into consideration the large volumeof clippings and associated pesticidesgenerated during the wash cycle.

The Washmaster 36 (unit is 90 sq.ft., http://www.rgf.com/recycle sys-tems, cfm) is engineered for removal ofherbicides, insecticides, and fungicidesin addition to oils, solids, and grass.It is equipped with an auto-back flushsystem for the media, and polishingfilters that help reduce maintenance.It is also equipped with an advancedcatalytic oxidation system for organics.An aerobic digester reduces high BOD(biological oxygen demand) loadingassociated with golf and turf applica-tions. The system uses a high-volumewash station for equipment washing.The process flow rate is 25 gpm, andthe system capacity is 1,500 gallons.Filtered water delivery is 25 gpm at 50psi. There is a single skid-mounted,scaled-down model for smaller opera-tions (Washmaster 18 with a smallerfootprint of 5 ft. X 10 ft. X 7 ft.).TheWashmaster 36 costs about $30,000,and the Washmaster 18 about $20,000.Each unit requires a wash pad and/or abuilding for containment.

The Mi-T-M (http://www.mitm.-comA similar to the one sold by GreatLakes Cleaning Systems Inc..http://-www.waterquip.com/wwbw.htm) isalso designed for removal of herbicides,insecticides, and fungicides, in additionto oils, solids, and grass. This system can

22 G R E E N S E C T I O N R E C O R D

be used to either recycle or dischargethe wash wastewater. It needs a sumppit but does not require a specific typeof wash pad. The process flow range isfrom 0 to 20 gpm, and it has a capacityof 890 gallons for the discharge systemand 0 to 35 gpm and up to 2,244 gallonsfor the recycle system. Recycled wateris ready for washing at 45 gpm on up tothree hoses. The small unit costs about$9,000 as a discharge type and $15,000as a recycling type. The largest system,a recycling type, costs about $30,000.Each requires a wash pad and/or abuilding to contain the unit.

The Carbtrol system (http://www.-carbtrol.com) can provide 20-30 gpmof recycled wash water on a continuousbasis. The Carbtrol system has theability to handle wash water from aheavy equipment washday. This systemalso has up to 4 discharge hoses formultiple washing. Minimum spacerequirement for the treatment system is10 ft. X 20 ft. for the small unit and 15ft. X 25 ft. for the large unit. Operational

costs involve chemical (peroxide) andcarbon for water treatment at about$1,200 plus disposal cost of the spentcarbon. Treated water storage capacity is500 to 1,000 gallons. The larger systemcosts about $35,000 plus the cost of thepad and building. The smaller version isabout $25,000.

The system from ESD Waste toWater Inc. (model 5000 GC-4,http: //www:\vaste2water.com/) is afixed-film wastewater recycle system.This system uses aerobic microbes forthe breakdown of pollutants. Dailythroughput for this system is 6,050gallons, and it has 4 wash hoses at 14.6gpm each. The system requires weeklyadditions of microbes ranging at about$20 to $40 per week. The footprint forthe system is 16 ft. X 5 ft. X 5 ft. Smallersystems are available for a 9-hole courseor low-maintenance operations. Thecost for the equipment is about$35,000.

Landa (http://www.landa.com/-pages/mainpage.asp) is the supplier for

two types of systems from Watermaze, abioremediation system for golf coursesand a carbon filter system. The biore-mediation system has a recycler and asewer discharge model. Both modelscan treat wastewater at 50 gpm, but therecycler has a capacity of 1,500 gpd andthe discharger 2,000 gpd. The carbon-based systems have a flow rate of 1-30gpm, they are designed for small equip-ment, but they do not have holdingtanks for recycled water. The bioreme-diation system costs between $20,000and $30,000, depending on size. Thecarbon-based systems cost between$25,000 and $30,000.

There are other closed washpadsystems on a much smaller scale that arenot designed to remove or treat pesti-cides. Many are car-wash types that willdischarge water to a common outlet.Examples of these types are:WastechSystem (http://www.wastechengineer-ing.com/products/rinse-water-recycle-systems.html) that removes emulsifiedoils, heavy metals, and contaminants by

Table 2Types of turfgrass equipment washing systems and discharge of wastewater for 20 east end Long Island golf courses.

Golf CourseNumber

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

II

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

No. ofHoles

18

9

18

18

9

18

18

18

18

27

18

18

18

18

9

18

9

18

18

18

Type

Public

Public

Public

Private

Public

Private

Public

Semi-Private

Private

Private

Public

Private

Private

Private

Private

Public

Public

Private

Private

Private

Type of Wash Area

Uncovered concrete pad

Uncovered concrete pad

Uncovered asphalt pad

Uncovered asphalt pad

Uncovered concrete pad

Uncovered concrete pad

Covered concrete pad

Uncovered concrete pad

Uncovered concrete pad

Washes on course atquick couplers

Uncovered asphalt pads

Uncovered asphalt andconcrete pad

Uncovered soil pad

Uncovered asphalt pad

Gravel driveway

Uncovered concrete pad

Uncovered concrete pad

Uncovered concrete pad

Recycling system*

Uncovered asphalt pad

Wastewater

Drains to grassy swale

Drains to dry well, discharged into ground

Drains out to a lawn area

Drains to a wooded area

Drains to a ditch

Drains to a tank

Drains to a trough

Flows on the ground

Drywell on one pad, grassy swale on the other

Drains to a drywell, discharges into the ground

Runs into the woods

Drains into a grassy swale

Flows onto the ground

Drains to ditch and grass area

Drains to drywell, discharges into the ground

Drains to two drywells, pumped out periodically

Water is collected, filtered, and reused

Drains to ditch

Clippings

Composted

Spread on roughs

Composted

Spread on course

Composted

Composted

Spread on driving range

Spread on roughs

*Cost of equipment is about $35,000 plus the cost of the building, used 3 hours per day.

S E P T E M B E R - O C T O B E R 2 0 0 5 23

Table 3The concentration of nitrate, ammonium, total phosphorus, and pesticides that weredetected in equipment wash wastewater for three eastern Long Island golf courses.

GOLF COURSE I Water Collection Site Ammonium-N Nitrate-N Total Phosphorus

HoseWash PadWash PadHolding TankHolding Tank

HoseWash PadHolding Pad

flocculation and forming a sludgesystem from Hydro Engineering Inc.(http://www.hydroblaster.com/).

EQUIPMENTWASHWASTEWATER QUALITYThe effectiveness of the range ofequipment washing systems used oneastern Long Island golf courses onfiltering potential toxicants (fertilizernutrients and pesticides) was deter-mined by collecting discharge watersamples from three golf courses.Sampling was done on September23,2004. At each golf course thewater used for washing was sampled.On two golf courses a sample ofwater was collected coming off amower being washed. Water also wascollected coming directly off thewash pad (all three golf courses) andat the collecting tank before dischargeinto the ground (on two golf courses).Duplicate samples were collected atsome locations. Pesticides werecollected in 1L glass bottles, 250mlplastic bottles for ammonium, and120ml plastic bottles for total phos-phorus and nitrate. The water wasanalyzed for nutrients (nitrate-nitro-gen, ammonium-nitrogen, and totalphosphorus) and for 28 turfgrasspesticides (chloroneb, chlorothalonil,chlorpyrifos, cyfluthrin, DCPA,deltamethrin, diazinon, dithiopyr,ethofumesate, ethoprop, etridiazole,fenamiphos, fenarimol, fenoxaprop-ethyl, flurprimidol, flutolanil,iprodione, isofenphos, myclobutanil,pendimethalin, pentachloronitroben-zene, propiconazole isomer a and b,trichlorfon, trifluralin, trinexapac-ethyl,vinclozolin, and lambda-cyhalothrin) byGC/MS method EHL S150 used byEnvironmental Health Laboratory,South Bend, Indiana.

Table 3 contains the testing results ofwater collected at each of the three golfcourses. Golf Course I had a coveredconcrete pad that did not collect clip-pings and drained to a holding tank thatdischarged into the ground. GolfCourse II had an uncovered asphalt pad

that drained into a ditch. Golf CourseIII had an uncovered concrete pad thatscreened out clippings and drained to aholding tank that is periodicallypumped and removed from the golfcourse. These three equipment washsystems covered the range of washwater discharge systems found on golfcourses on the east end of Long Island.

Clippings screened and deposited in a cart for disposal.

This study is considered somewhatpreliminary since only three golfcourses were sampled just one time.Therefore, caution should be takenfrom this in interpreting data on howmuch of an impact turfgrass equipmentwashing has on the environment. Never-theless, there were some interestingfindings. The water used to wash equip-ment at all three golf courses did nothave any pesticides or ammoniumdetected, but in one case there was asmall concentration of total phosphorusand nitrate. For nutrients (ammonium,nitrate, and total phosphorus), the con-

centrations in the water being dischargedonto (Golf Course II) or in the ground(Golf Course I) were low, ranging from2 to 13 mg/L of ammonium, belowdetection limit (

Biological processing of washwater.

and in the holding tank. This was alsotrue for Golf Course I, which washedits pesticide application equipment andhad a high level of iprodione in theholding tank. It also is interesting tonote that for Golf Course I, smallamounts of some pesticides (chlorpyrifos,propiconazole, and vinclozolin) weredetected in the holding tank but hadnot been used on the golf course sincebefore 2001.

The limited results of this study dosuggest that equipment wash water cancontain low levels of nutrients andpesticides. However, if pesticide applica-tion equipment is washed with thesesystems, the wastewater could be veryhigh in pesticides. Therefore, pesticideapplication equipment should not becleaned using the same wash pad unlessa recycling system that removes pesti-cides is used. For equipment washwater, it is advisable to either recycle it,have it put through some type of treat-ment system to remove pesticides(carbon or biological), or allow it to be

filtered in a grassy swale (not close tosensitive environmental areas) that canfilter out the contaminates. The equip-ment wash water should not be dis-charged into any surface water body(pond, stream, lake, or reservoir) or intoa deep well that could contaminategroundwater.

CONCLUSIONSCurrently there are no local, county,state, or federal requirements for turfequipment wash pad or systems on golfcourses on eastern Long Island or otherturf operations, and none are beingcontemplated as long as the washwastewater is not discharged into stormwater systems or deep well ground-water. The east end Long Island golfcourses used low-tech equipmentwashing and wastewater disposal, with75% of the survey respondents washingequipment on an uncovered concreteor asphalt pad, and only 5% using arecycling type system. We found thereare six washpad-recycling systems

specifically designed for golf coursesand turf settings. The limited results ofthis study suggest that equipment washwastewater can contain low levels ofnutrients and pesticides. However, ifpesticide application equipment iswashed with these systems, the waste-water could be very high in pesticidesthat were applied recently. Therefore,pesticide application equipment shouldnot be cleaned using the same wash padunless a recycling system that removespesticides is used. For equipment washwastewater, it is advisable to eitherrecycle it, have it put through sometype of treatment system to removepesticides (carbon or biological) orallow it to be filtered in a grassy swale(not close to sensitive environmentalareas) that can filter out thecontaminates.

A. MARTIN PETROVIC, PH.D., is professorof turfgrass science in the Department ofHorticulture at Cornell University inIthaca, N. Y.

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