Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater that is collected, typically from roofs or direct to storage tanks or reservoirs. Water abstraction licences are not required for water from harvested rainwater, although where it is combined with ground (e.g. borehole) or surface (e.g. river / stream) water then a licence will be needed.

Harvesting rainwater is an efficient water of water, is effectively cost free, reduces the water load surface run-off at peak rainfall times helping to reduce the potential for localised flooding, and reduces the demand of valuable potable water. Large underground / under pitch storage tanks can collect a large amount of water and can provide a ready supply of irrigation water for a sports pitch. An analogy could be that harvested rainwater might be considered renewable water, similar to renewable energy.
Harvested rainwater could be used as part of a water sustainability indicator, with a potential aim to eliminate the use of potable, surface or ground water, or at least on a reducing trend, over time. This approach would be more environmentally acceptable to society and would help to provide evidence of positive actions the grounds care industry is taking in protecting relatively scare natural resources.
With less availability of water due to harvesting (as there will be a limit to what can realistically be stored) than being instantly available from other water sources, there will be a much greater need for grounds managers to take a much more holistic approach to managing turfgrass areas, with improved understanding of consequences of maintenance actions and how these interact with the soil and plant water usage. For example, a higher sward will (typically) produce a deeper-rooted sward, thereby being able to explore a greater volume of soil / rootzone for moisture. Better consideration will need to be given to drainage and construction designs, especially in relation to how they respond in drier conditions as the water holding capacity of extremely free draining rootzones is very limited, hence the need to apply very high amounts, on a frequent basis to many sports pitches. An example of this can be evidenced by the automatic irrigation of premier league pitches at half-time (even during winter), which is to ensure adequate moisture is retained within the rootzone as well as in response to managers demands of having ‘slicker’ playing surfaces.