Sports Surface De-Icing Solutions

With winter fast approaching and the nights getting much cooler, forward planning for ice prevention becomes more important. The loss of a pitch due to freezing over, and the lost  revenue that represents is a real issue and economical solutions to this sometimes prolonged issue have to be given some thought. Some schools of thought advise that when a synthetic pitch is frozen over you should leave well alone, as the cold weather can possibly make the fibres more brittle and more susceptible to wear. Then there’s the issue of injuries incurred by players slipping over on a frozen pitch, and we all have a duty of care to other users of a facility.

However in many cases prevention is a better solution rather than trying to de-ice a pitch first, and the tried and tested approach is to apply a fine grade industrial grade pure salt to the surface before the air temperature falls low enough to freeze water.  Salt causes freezing point depression, and in effect it lowers the point at which water freezes and means that several degrees of frost can be experienced without any ice forming.  Once the temperature gets below -9C then you simply cannot dissolve enough salt into water to prevent freezing, and realistically anything below -6C becomes un preventable.

But there are usually more days in the UK when the temperature is between 0 and -6C than there are -6 and below (famous last words I hear you cry) so you should stand a fighting chance of keeping the facility open by apply salt before the freeze begins. The next point I hear you ask is how much salt do I need? and this is where it gets difficult to give a definitive answer. But basically start with 2 – 3 x 25kg bags per tennis court (500m sq), this should give protection against a mild frost, however how much moisture present on the pitch at the time of application due to rain or snow and is a major factor as the salt will dissolve into the water and possibly drain through the infill material weakening the salt mix. In this situation maybe wait until the rain or snow ceases then brush the pitch to remove as much as possible before applying the salt, or possibly increasing the salt strength, but this then leads to more expense and there has to be a point at which it becomes uneconomical to proceed. Another consideration is is how often to apply salt, and again this is going to be down to the amount of moisture present and how much rain and snow falls diluting the salt, requiring re application.

So basically the answer is yes you can prevent freezing over down to about -6C but at a cost and a single 6,000sq m pitch is going to require about one pallet of Pure Dried Vacum Salt for one application.

Finally how do you apply it? Well the product needs to be applied as economically as possible to prevent wastage, so for smaller areas a walk over spreader is essential to obtain an even distribution of material, for larger areas then maybe a towed spreader suitable for salt application is the way forward. One advantage of this material is that it is free flowing, as opposed to rock salt which should not be used on synthetic grass surfaces, and it can be applied with most types of fine application spreaders.

Artificial Turf vs Natural Turf

From reading various posts on turf management message boards and hearing some groundsmen’s opinions, although not necessarily the opinions of the industry as a whole, it seems artificial sports surfaces have accrued an unpopular reputation.

These views, however, are usually from diehard “old school” groundsmen who see them as the arch nemesis of natural turf. A view borne from either the notion that such a surface will not require their services and, therefore, render them redundant; or the simple fact that they do not want to admit that they don’t know how to maintain them.

My own experience in sports turf stems from a golf course background, and I freely admit I didn’t know what was required to maintain an artificial surface. Like many others I thought they required minimal maintenance inputs.

Several years ago I found myself sharing a portakabin for three years at Cranfield University with Dr Andy McLeod, who was conducting research into the maintenance of artificial sports surfaces. It was from here, through various discussions, that I developed a greater appreciation for artificials and their nuances; either that or I was the innocent victim of an indoctrination process!!

Nevertheless, however it came about; I left the ranks of the non-believers and became completely open minded about artificial surfaces. I say “surfaces” plural, as there are a range of surfaces to meet the different needs of sport, with surfaces such as acrylic, tufted (both sand filled and rubber crumb filled), woven, asphalt, and water based. The one thing that they have in common with natural turf surfaces is that they require good and regular maintenance to maintain good playing characteristics.

Joining Sweepfast has given me the opportunity to learn the skill set required to produce a top quality playing surface, and has further opened my eyes to the different methods, machinery and techniques available for every situation.

Typical problems encountered are very similar to those experienced on natural turf areas, namely poor drainage, moss infestations, compaction (of the infill), surface debris – primarily leaf litter which leads to contamination of the infill – and sunken or raised areas due to tree roots crossing beneath the surface. Other problems include seam failure, worn areas, and capping of the surface where carpet fibres have bent over and, after a prolonged period, literally become welded together.

In general the company is called in for annual maintenance or where a surface has been poorly maintained and has got to the point where it requires specialist treatment.

Some surfaces encountered are so bad, due to neglect or ignorance, that you can’t actually see the playing surface. It never ceases to amaze me that what looks like a basket case, can be transformed into a first class playing surface, with playing characteristics as good as natural turf. As the nature of this kind of work is very specialist the company travels far and wide, up, down, and across the country, literally to all points of the compass, both in the UK and overseas.

I have also been surprised at the broad spectrum of the company’s client base, ranging from a privately owned tennis court in someone’s back garden, through to Premier League training facilities.

Artificial surfaces are usually constructed for year round play, and can be located in areas where they receive lots of wear, which a natural turf surface could not sustain, such as a local authority pitch in a built up area. And, when I say a built up area, they can be exactly that, built up, to the point where we have to employ a crane to be able to access the pitch with the machinery.

In cases like this, it is not viewed as a problem, but as a challenge. As with any playing surface, natural or artificial, the timing and speed at which the maintenance operations are carried out are very important, as the surfaces are usually fully booked up, whether they are a local authority pitch, private tennis club or school.

There are lots of pros and cons in the natural verses artificial debate, and that is a discussion that could go on and on. Which one provides the best playing surface, I could not say, as it depends on more than the skill of the groundsman. The finished surfaces are dependant on the initial performance characteristics specified for them, the design and build quality, the budget allocated for their maintenance, the environment in which they will be located, and how much wear they will be subjected to.

What is apparent is that no two surfaces are the same, and the nature of the problems encountered is dependant on the type of surface and the maintenance it has or hasn’t received. Research into the optimum construction method and the ideal maintenance regime is ongoing for both natural turf and artificial surfaces.

The development of new technologies for the maintenance of artificials is where I step in at Sweepfast but, due to commercial sensitivity, I can’t explain the new technology we are developing, but watch this space!

Written By Dr Colin Mumford

Surface Cleaning Moss and Algae Control

Sweepfast have been involved in outdoor sports surface cleaning for many years, and finding a safe reliable product that can be applied time and time again has been a persistent problem. With health and safety a major concern most of the active products have been removed from the market place leaving various products available some with wild claims regarding their performance. Here at Sweepfast we take an active interest in evaluating every product that comes our way, with some surprising results.  Click Here

Our particular problem is preparing a surface ready for our machinery to perform a deep clean service, this means treating the surface for biological contaminants such as moss and algae. A difficult problem especially given the climate we in the UK suffer at the moment. persistent and recurring showers mean that timing the treatment is essential, and a product that works effectively and quickly is necessary.

In the latest batch of trials we discovered that RBT 247 produces a very fast effective control of algae in water based hockey pitches, whilst Algon produces a rapid clean up of moss infested surfaces. Both are safe products to use when applied in the prescribed manner, also both products can be used on the sports field and around the home. Where RBT 247 has been used, we have found that moss and algae is reluctant to grow back so a long term control is obviously a very important benefit worth considering.

Both products are available from our web shop and will be delivered on a next day basis. Full backup, technical advice and safety data sheets are readily available, just log on to sweepfast and register to be able to download documents.

Hockey Pitch Cleaning

Water based or water filled synthetic grass pitches are another variation on the old Astroturf  idea for artificial sports surfaces that can be played on safely all year round irrespective of the weather conditions, with no detrimental effect on the surface. These water based surfaces are much used in the sport of Hockey, and the principle is that they are filled with water from overhead cannons prior to play, this acts as a wearing factor and it also affects play and it is essential that they are kept wet. However this amount of water will, if left untreated, lead to algae growth as debris and water gather in the base of the surface inhibiting free drainage and causing even further build up of contaminants and algae. All this will need treatment immediately if your valuable asset is to be kept in operation. Treatment of the water from the cannons is the front line of attack and careful choice of chemicals is essential. The surface is permanently wet so a chemical that requires high volumes of water to be effective is the main criteria here, however many of these water based pitches are near a water source, such as a river, or stream, or drains  that lead to a water source and this in itself will rule out many.

So this leads to another question, how on earth do we control this ever persistent problem. The simple solution is to remove the contaminants along with the algae by employing a contractor such as Sweepfast who have years of experience in this field, and who use purpose built systems and not just converted street sweepers.

Water Based Hockey Pitch Cleaning
Water Based Hockey Pitch Cleaning

The system Sweepfast use is built by the specialist machinery constructors Hoerger in Germany and is called the SKR system. This uses the same pump and tank recovery unit as the KBR for cleaning running tracks, however the front head unit is completely different and is built just to clean water based surfaces. It utilises an extremely powerful pump which drives high volume  water under high pressure into the surface displacing the algae, debris, moss and remaining water to the surface

Water Based Hockey Pitch Cleaning
Water Based Hockey Pitch Cleaning

where it is immediately picked up by the head unit, this  pumps it straight into the holding tank which is emptied as soon as it’s full into a suitable drainage area.

Hockey Pitch Cleaning
Tank Emptying

Microscope close ups of a contaminated pitch before and after the deep clean process are below, this particular pitch was in a dreadful condition with untreated algae almost filling the pile to the top. In this instance it is always best to dry the pitch down, treat with a suitable chemical about 10 days prior to the deep clean. The results below explain why.

Water Based Hockey Pitch Pre Spray
Water Based Hockey Pitch Pre Spray

Water Based Hockey Pitch Post Clean
Water Based Hockey Pitch Post Clean