Hello! Great to see you back here! As I’ve discussed the various infrastructures associated with football, I thought it would be logical to consider the pitch itself. After all, there’s no way the game can be played if there’s no proper pitch, to begin with. However, there are certain concerns regarding the use and maintenance of such facilities.
To begin with, grass needs water to grow. And like how lawns needed to be watered regularly, grass turfs are subjected to similar treatment using water sprinklers. The issue is over the large amount of water that’s being used in the watering process, 100,000 litres of water per day to be exact. To put that into context, that’s over 700 times the daily water consumption of the average Singaporean.
But why the need for such a large volume of water? Well, the answer as always is inevitably linked to a team’s on-pitch performance. For example, if a team’s playing philosophy is to play fast, attacking football, the pitch would be watered more regularly to encourage faster ball movement. Hence in a way, an argument could be made that for the sake of results, an excessive amount of water is being used.
One way to reduce water wastage could be to switch to artificial pitches cause logically speaking, fake grass doesn’t need water to grow. But using it brings about its own set of problems. Take the turf at our very own Singapore Sports Stadium, which consisted of a hybrid mix of synthetic grass and natural grass. However, the grass failed to take root properly, leading to many top clubs and nations panning the field.
One of those critics was Dunga, Brazil’s then-manager when the South American nation faced Japan at the Sports Stadium in 2014. As a spectator for the game, I couldn’t help but agree with him that the pitch was way too sandy, and therefore pose an injury risk to the players. Under the barrage of criticisms, the management eventually switched to an all-grass pitch in 2016, which perhaps lends credence to the argument that traditional fields are irreplaceable.
That aside, there are concerns that the microplastics used in artificial turfs could inadvertently lead to soil pollution. Dr Coleman’s lecture on soil pollution led me to do more readings on the topic, whereby I found that such microplastics could detrimentally affect plant growth. This could be due to interactions between microplastics and soil, denying vegetation the nutrients that are needed for growth.
Given that traditional turfs are here to stay, perhaps the simple solution to reduce water consumption is to use only what’s needed. Norwich City, an English Championship side, has done exactly that by watering only certain pitches at their training ground. By identifying the pitches that aren’t used for training sessions, there’s no need to water them and hence the club can cut down on overall water consumption.
Do you have any thoughts regarding artificial and natural pitches? Let me know in the comments down below!
References:
The Economic Times. (2019, June 3). How much water do sports fields really ‘drink’ – RO water for cricket. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/how-much-water-do-sports-fields-really-drink/sucking-soccer/slideshow/69630567.cms
Football Stadiums. (n.d.). How stadiums use sprinkler systems – Tactics, ground care or both? | football-stadiums.co.uk. https://www.football-stadiums.co.uk/articles/why-do-football-stadiums-use-sprinkler-systems/
Johnston, P. (2014, October 13). Dunga wary of Brazil injuries on sandy Singapore surface. Reuters. https://br.reuters.com/article/idINKCN0I20VM20141013
Kleunen, M. (2019, October 11). A microplastic used as infill material in artificial sport turfs reduces plant growth. New Phytologist Foundation. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10071
The Landscaper Magazine. (2019, September 4). Irrigation technology benefits Norwich city FC. https://landscapermagazine.com/irrigation-techonolgy-hunter-industries/
PUB. (n.d.). PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency. https://www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/singaporewaterstory
WONG, J. (2016, October 12). Praise surfaces for pitch as Stadium turf wins approval. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/praise-surfaces-for-pitch-as-stadium-turf-wins-approval
Yu Xun,
You’re really showing a lot of talent with your blog. You’re quite good at synthesising info and delivering a genuine, unique post, week after week, that almost seamlessly blends together your insights with excellent (but appropriately sparing) support from external sources where needed.
And I’ve learned a lot about a topic I knew very little about.
One tip – you don’t need the in-text hyperlinks AND the ref list at the end. Just pick one.
Also, if this topic interests you, Google “Cristina Milesi lawns”. Dr Milesi just might know more about the water & carbon impacts of turfgrass than anyone else.
Hi Dr Coleman,
Thanks for the feedback! Would definitely take a look at your recommendation to find out more about the subject.
Hello Yu Xun,
This is an interesting post! I have never thought about how soccer can impact the environment, especially how much water it needs just to maintain the grass patch. Do you think with Singapore’s climate, we can rely mainly on rainfall as a source of water for the outdoor soccer fields?
– Jo
Hi Jo,
Thanks for the intriguing question, I’ve not considered it at least from a local perspective. This made me run a few calculations to determine if natural rainfall is sufficient for pitch irrigation. Based on last year’s data, the mean monthly rainfall stood at around 113.96mm. By inputting that data into this calculator, the amount of rainfall that the Sport’s Hub pitch would’ve collected in a month is estimated to be 813,674 litres. Thus when compared to the figure I’ve used in my blog post, it roughly equates to about 8 days worth of irrigation.
That said, natural rainfall may cause more harm than good to all-grass fields. Due to the high volume of rainfall in Singapore, there’s the risk of soil and grass being washed away. Which is why the Singapore Sports Hub has a dome that can close in the event of inclement weather. For natural pitches to be kept in pristine condition, regular maintenance has to be carried out. It’s this exact reason that 142 schools in Singapore have installed synthetic turfs to keep costs down and lengthen their lifespan.
Despite the issues I’ve raised, rainwater can still be useful in the sense that it can be collected and reuse for fields. That’s what’s happening at Tottenham Hotspur FC’s training centre, which has a green roof to allow the capture of rainfall which will be used throughout the centre. So while we can’t fully rely on typical rainfall to irrigate pitches in Singapore, perhaps it can be used as a supplementary source to reduce the overall water consumption.
Cheers
Yu Xun
This is an OUTSTANDING reply to a very good Q by Jo. Also, I think you’ll definitely like Dr Milesi’s work because she did what you did in this reply but on a way bigger scale. Great thinking !