DAC102021

50 n WATER October 2021 www.drivesncontrols.com Drive reprogramming tackles leak problem at Welsh rugby club W hen a small underground leak began to affect irrigation systems at the training pitch used by the Welsh rugby club Scarlets, the club was faced with the prospect of digging up the pitch to locate and fix the problem. This would potentially have cost tens of thousands of pounds, while causing major disruption for both ground staff and players. The Parc y Scarlets pitch needs to be watered three times a day, with the irrigation pumps drawing water from the mains and running for four to six hours during that period. The pumps are speed-controlled using a single variable-speed drive, installed by an irrigation company several years ago. The irrigation system uses a valve control system to open sprinkler heads on the pitch, allowing a measured supply of water which can be changed depending on the condition of the pitch. When the leak was detected in the under- pitch pipework, the system was unable to reach the required pressure setpoint to trigger a sleep function. With no spare outputs on the sprinkler system, the ABB VSD used to control the pumps ran continuously, even though the irrigation cycle had finished, causing the pumps to run dry and to burn out frequently. Ground staff would have to turn the systems off manually late at night and at weekends, which was highly inconvenient. Digging up the pitch to locate and fix the leak would be costly and would impact on A leak in the sprinkler system at the training pitch used by the Welsh rugby club Scarlets, is no longer causing a ruck following the re-programming of a VSD that has avoided the need to dig up the pitch.