Sheffield - Weather

[Noggin]

Can't we drain the water and save it for drought season when the pitch has been reseeded?

Gloucester City did indeed have huge water tanks installed ,when they had their new ground built, for future use, but these could n't cope when the Severn burst its banks; with no insurance they were forced to ground share when the ground was submerged and have n't moved back to the City yet.

I thought there was already a smaller tank at the Grove? although I think there were "payment issues" with a previous regime that mean the pump had been removed by the supplier. Perhaps I am out of date on that matter?

I previously calculated that 1" of rain water was 127m3 (assuming a 50mx100m pitch for simplicity). a tank similar to that at Loughborough (estimated radius of 5m and height of 3m) would contain 245m3, so therefore would capture/contain just under 2" of rain water.

This would still require:
* a capture system (Raiden's "plastic sheet")
* piping to the storage tank
* siting the storage tank (space is at a premium at the Grove)
* pumps to remove the water from the storage tank to water the pitch
* drainage of the excess rainwater (when too much for the storage tank to hold) with attendant payment to water authorities

All in all, this seems to be a serious amount of engineering and looks like it has big £ signs attached

I also believe that Mike Burke has recently renegotiated water arrangements and brought about significant saving to the clubs outgoings in this area, so significant changes might be untimely

having said that, the easy availability of water bombs sounds interesting

[Westyeltz]

Another thing to consider is grass growth.

Were we to cover the pitch with plastic for a few days, even hours in the winter, it would be likely to inhibit what limited growth we get at this time of year due to lack of air/ light, if not kill the grass.
Without the grass there would be nothing to bind the topsoil together and - hey, presto! - we have a pitch like the old Baseball Ground in Derby. The grass would grow back eventually of course but probably sometime in June/ July. The overall result being more games lost due to a s**tty pitch.

Also to be considered would be where would we keep such a massive piece of plastic?
Would we have sufficient manpower to roll it out/ in when it was required?

[watsisnerm]

if only it rained magners...we would only need one man..

[Johnny Bud]

Magners as rain!!! Wow- all my dreams would come true!!

[RaidenYeltz]

[RobYeltz]

Sheffield have commented on their twitter feed that 'things aren't looking good' for Saturday along with a picture.

[andy]

Seems like i have to come up with the only SENSIBLE solution. I suggest a game along the lines of Its A Knockout. We all dress up in oversized comedy costumes with big floppy feet and each have a long straw. On the whistle we suck up water from the pitch and deposit it in a beaker. When the said beaker is full we waddle to the main gate and all get stuck. On getting through, pour the water into a large measuring container and return for more. All this to a backdrop of a recording of a hysterical Stuart Hall (can i still use his name?) playing over the tannoy. Seems simple to me......

[andy]

My wife has just said she would pay to watch such larks, so we have a revenue as well. Beat that!!!

[lutleyyeltz]

.....and Owen can put it all on You Tube!

[KenR]

What on earth are you drinking Andy.? I'll try and get an ambulance to you quickly.