Retention and Water Needs of Natural Grass Turf of Football Fields

The paper contains a detailed assessment of three full-size football fields constructed in 2019-2022 to meet the basic conditions for proper operation and maintenance. As a result of field and laboratory tests on permeability and retention capacity of the fields' base and drainage layers, they were found to meet the requirements set out in the standard DIN 18035. It ensures that rainwater and snowmelt are quickly drained from the turf's surface. The grass turfs of the football fields under study meet the conditions for properly performing one of the basic care treatments – irrigation. The base layer can retain an average of 10.3 mm of water in comfortable water availability conditions, depending on the football field. It is the value of a single dose net, which should be used for sprinkler irrigation of grass turf of football fields. However, considering the drainage layer, this dose could be increased to 12.5 mm. Considering the percentage content of generally available water and assuming less comfortable water availability conditions, the appropriate doses net are 12.5 mm on average. In comparison, for both layers together, they are 15.4 mm on average.