Nevada is home to many beautiful, expansive, and green golf courses. But, Nevada is also a dry, arid desert which is currently going through a severe drought, and there’s no end in sight. How are these two seemingly irreconcilable realities coexisting? Well, that’s a multi-faceted answer.
Golf courses go hand-in-hand with Nevada’s hospitality and luxury industries, and companies would be hard pressed to simply let their green investments die a brown, crunchy death. So companies, and courses, have gotten a little creative. While they started with the obvious measures of reducing overall usage, and examining pipes for leaks, the reduction was simply was not enough. Golf courses have now started using treated effluent water as a means for watering their massive lawns. Many courses in Nevada, especially those lining the Las Vegas strip, have used gray water for several years, but effluent water is a newer usage concept. Effluent water differs from gray water in that it must be more treated, since it can contain sewage. Using effluent water, instead of fresh water or even gray water, means a reduction of demand for potable water, which in turn means that our dwindling water supply can hold out a bit longer.
Northern Nevada golf courses have capitalized on the use of treated effluent water as a means to water their grass. It’s clear that the water-saving measure isn’t negatively impacting the golf courses, too, because the lawns are bright green and thriving. You just have to drive by Washoe County’s Sierra Sage Golf Course in Stead to see that this is a great way to water the turf. Sierra Sage gets their water from the City of Reno’s Stead Water Reclamation Facility, where the effluent water is treated to the point where it is no longer dangerous, but still not potable.
Another impact of this ever-worsening drought? Shorter winters mean more time on the putting green.
WETLAB tests effluent water for EPA compliance, and water for golf courses is no exception. WETLAB will also test all of your runoff and fertilizer samples, call (775) 355-0202 for more information.