Water Based Hockey Pitch Cleaning Archives

Moss and Algae Eradicator

Posted on 4th October 2013 by Sweepfast

Its That Blooming Time Again!!

From short pile tennis courts through to water based and sand dressed or filled pitches, the result is the same; everything was going fine then, one morning, the surface starts showing signs of sludge across the surface.

Water Based Hockey Pitch Pre Spray — Electronic Microscope Close Up Of Algae Infestation In a Synthetic Grass Surface Pre-Spray

Simplified, the typical drainage scenario on a sand based pitch is as follows; for several years everything appears fine, and drainage is good. Suddenly, the drainage rates slow down and then, after a further year or so, the drainage fails. Water can’t percolate through the surface as it should; the organic contamination in the pitch floats to the surface, water then drains slowly through the lowest spots on the surface, leaving the sludge behind as dark coloured puddles.

Usually, with either a visual assessment or sedimentation testing, it is possible to determine what stage these surfaces are at in their lifespan, in respect of drainage and sedimentation. However, algae nullifies everything. Really rapid blooms can lead to temporary drainage failures, and this has the same result as a conventional drainage failure. Water cannot drain through the surface, even relatively small percentages of contamination can be flushed to the surface and leave the dreaded sludge puddles.

You can remove the sludge from the surface, but as with conventional drainage failures, as soon as it rains again it’s back! You can spray it with any one of the dozen or so chemicals available, keep your fingers and everything else crossed and hope that you have good results!

Moss and algae infestation can be a serious problem on all types of outdoor sports and amenity surfaces.

Failure to treat the algae and moss quickly can eventually mean that only a full refurbishment of the surface will restore the pitch.

Early treatment is essential with a safe and effective moss or algae killer

Water Based Hockey Pitch Post Clean — Same Location Post Spray With RBT 247

Moss usually has two growth periods during a year, the first in the autumn, after which the plant produces spores during the winter ready to germinate in the following spring. The second in the spring, when the plant produces spores again ready to germinate in the autumn, thus continuing the life cycle.

Algae is also a serious and potentially hazardous problem on artificial surfaces, particularly water based hockey pitches, as it can severely impede drainage, especially under the present UK weather conditions. If you can see moss on the surface of your court or pitch, you probably already have a significant algal infestation, as the two thrive in the same conditions.

Three easy to spot indicators of the presence of algae on your surface are:

1) a slippery surface
2) dark patches that vary in size
3) a players clean white kit becoming extremely dirty during a game, especially if they fall over

Algae should be treated promptly because of the potentially hazardous conditions it can create for users of the surface.

Try to prevent the moist conditions that favour the establishment of moss and algae by maintaining good surface water infiltration and drainage. Unfortunately, the moist conditions cannot be avoided on a water-based pitch.

Inspect the surface for moss or algae on a regular basis, and treat any outbreaks of moss or algae as and when required.

Treatment:

To treat an infected area effectively, it must be sprayed with a proprietary brand of Moss & Algae Eradicator. This can be applied using tractor mounted sprayers, walkovers and knapsacks at most times of the year, providing conditions are moist.

Spot treatments should be carried out as and when required during the rest of the year.

Water based pitches may require several treatments per year, with the addition of regular deep cleaning, owing to the ideal conditions for moss and algal growth that water based surfaces provide.

Sweepfast can offer autumn winter servicing to your surfaces, this may include; sludge removal from the surface, spaying the whole area with an algaecide, working the algaecide such as RBT247 into the surface and re-spraying the surface 7-10 days later, moss is best treated with MMC Pro Which has a fast working time and will continue to clean the surface for many weeks afterwards.

www.sweepfast.com

Moss & Algae Killer

Posted on 12th February 2013 by Sweepfast

Buy RBT 247 moss and algae killer now and get spraying!!

As long as it’s not raining or frozen solid with RBT 247 there’s no bad time to kill off moss and algae infestations on any outdoor surface. You can treat one full sized tennis court once, for example for as little as £30.00 + delivery and VAT. In the more serious cases a second or third application is going to be necessary to complete the treatment, then regular follow ups every few months is all that’s needed.

Simply mix 1 Litre of RBT 247 into 10 Litres of clean water and apply to 110 sq m of outdoor surface. Leave for a couple of days and marvel at the results, then several months later the surface will still be free from infestations, and no scrubbing, scraping, brushing or power washing has been involved!!

For just £30.00 a 5 Litre can will treat 550 sq m or,

£84.00 for a 20 litre can that will treat 2,200 sq m, the choice is yours just don’t put it off any longer, buy it now!!

Bowdry

Posted on 18th June 2012 by Sweepfast

Water Removal With The Amazing Bowdry

“Breaking news, the weather forecasters are predicting rain, rain and even more rain!!!!”

This summers weather predictions are full of doom and gloom, and headlines like this must send a chill down the spine of anybody actively involved in the outdoor sports turf industry. Maintaining a usable sports field or track can be fraught with problems ranging from disease to wear and tear, and excessive rainfall is just another hindrance which can exacerbate already existing problems.

Removal of surface water can be of paramount importance in managing disease caused by standing water, and it puts the surface back into play straight away, reducing the financial burden due to losses caused by cancelled matches etc etc, not to mention the reduced costs of disease controlling chemicals.

One of the most tried and tested pieces of equipment on the market today is the Bowdry from Sweepfast, which in one pass quickly picks up the water and stores it on board until it needs to be emptied. The tank holds 60 Litres of water and emptying is a simple matter of removing the plug and draining off into a suitable gulley.

Bowdry will clear and dry any ground surface thick foam roller picks up water, dew, liquid mud, or any other floods or spills. Bowdry has an easily-emptied 60-litre holding tank save time – and revenue – where water-logged ground prevents play save lawsuits where slippery surfaces might cause accidents. Selected by the UK Design Council as a Millennium Product.

Price includes carriage to mainland UK and one free replacement sponge kit.

Artificial Turf vs Natural Turf

Posted on 15th June 2012 by Sweepfast

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

Posted on 14th June 2012 by Sweepfast

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.

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Category: Water Based Hockey Pitch Cleaning