Fast Fill

In any facet of our operation, we are only as fast as the slowest part.  When it comes to using our sprayers, that bottleneck often is the time it takes to put water in the tank.  Yes, filling a 300 gallon sprayer with the city water supply on our mix and load pad at the maintenance building is painstakingly slow.

For spraying purposes, the irrigation water quality is as good as, if not better than the municipal water supply.  Therefore, it was just a matter of finding a way to make use of the irrigation system.  This spring we constructed a fill area at the pump station located in the maintenance building compound.

We went from a fill rate of 12 gallons per minute from the city water, to over 120 gallons per minute from the pump station.  Now, the spray technician will quickly fill the sprayer to around 250 gallons of water, then head across the parking lot to finish adding the wetting agent, fertilizer, or plant protectants to the tank--a real time saver.

 

So, why is this important?  We are always looking for ways to make our operation run more efficiently, and increase productivity.  Often, this means trying to accomplish as many tasks as possible prior to play.  Once we have to stop for a group of golfers, we will usually fall behind, and can spend the rest of the day at a lower productivity level than if we were able to stay in front of play.  When things work well, we get more done, and we aren't in the way of our members as they try to enjoy their time on the course.  In other words, it's a true "win-win."