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GOLF
Water management on Sun City Texas golf courses
Submitted by the Sun City Texas Golf Committee
How much water Sun City Texas uses each year to irrigate Every month, these water volumes are compiled in a report
golf courses is, not surprisingly, dependent upon the that is reviewed by course superintendents and staff to ensure
amount of rainfall we get each year and more particularly water efficiency is maintained.
when we get it. Since 2011, when we began collecting detailed
data on our golf courses’ water usage, Sun City Texas has sharply The efforts have paid off in considerable savings. The non-
cut the amount of water used on the courses through improved potable water we purchase from Georgetown costs $1,050 per 1
management of irrigation systems. million gallons. From 2012 to spring 2014, the efficiency efforts
The accompanying charts detail all irrigation usage of the paid off in about $455,000 worth of savings compared to 2011
community’s three golf courses from 2011 to 2014. The charts costs, with a small portion of the cost savings attributable to
show a significant decline in water usage from 2012 to 2014 well water used on the courses.
compared to irrigation in 2011. Sun City uses 100 percent non-
potable water that is purchased from the City of Georgetown The water wells have become an important part of the irrigation
to irrigate the courses plus our own well water. needs of Sun City Texas and contribute greatly to irrigating the
common areas and lowering the overall cost of water to golf and
The non-potable water used on the courses is wastewater treated the community. However, the water wells low replenishment
by the City of Georgetown that meets Type 1 reclaimed water rate, roughly 100 gallons per minute or 140,000 gallons or
use standards set by the Texas Commission on Environmental more a day, requires the golf courses to be very dependent on
Quality. Type 1 reclaimed water is the highest quality of the City of Georgetown for non-potable water for irrigation.
reclaimed water and approved for use on playgrounds, athletic
fields, parks, golf courses and other places where the public The Legacy Hills course is our oldest course and does not
may come in contact with the water. employ the more efficient spray heads and system installations
The reduction in water use since 2012 on the golf courses in place at our other courses. As a result of the less efficient
is largely due to efforts undertaken that year by golf course spray heads, this course will consistently use a little more
superintendents to check every spray head on every course water than the other courses. In order to apply more modern
to ensure the sprinklers operated at maximum efficiency. spray systems at Legacy, it would require a complete redo of
The superintendents’ efforts to maximize the performance of the piping systems, controllers and heads, and the improvement
spray heads and keep them operating that way has resulted costs would be greater than the savings.
in about a 50 percent savings in water usage and costs, a big
achievement that benefits Sun City’s golf budgets. Water is not taken for granted or used ineffectively in the
All of the water supply and use volumes for golf are metered. management of Sun City golf courses. The efforts of the golf
staff and others continue to achieve positive results in making
sure our courses continue to be healthy while keeping our
costs as low as possible.
52 | SUNRAYS AUGUST 2015 OONNLILNINE:ES: CSTCETXACSA..OORRGG
