ATP, STP & MUGA sports pitches can often suffer from fungal attacks due to the Great British weather!! Astro – turf synthetic sports pitches are often made from a type of sand dressed or sand infilled designed system which are all weather, synthetic and cater for many sports like football, hockey, rugby and tennis.
The sand in these systems can become contaminated when it has been affected by algal squidge, sporn, mud and dirt and this can occur when the surface is moist, hard and damp. The effects of this is to make the sports pitch have poor drainage, flood on the surface and lose its specified and designed porosity and therefore making the ballcourt safely useable. Algal squidge is a term used for the build up of basically muddy layers sat ontop of the surfacing.
Once this has happened, a remedy for this is to rejuvenate, renovate and revitalise the surface with a sports pitch regeneration by removing the contaminated sand and algal squidge by either air with a compressor or jet wash, although it is considered that air is the best method. This is because the jet wash method may push the algal squidge deeper into the carpet pile fibres and not out, meaning that the problem is not actually fixed.
Once the contaminated sand has been replaced, new clean sand can be installed meaning the MUGA can be as good as new. Astro – Turf synthetic systems do normally have specified amounts of sand in the carpet piles. For a sand dressed system this is 15 – 19mm depth and for sand filled, 20 – 24mm depth.
We are a true one-stop shop and have completed and advised on many sports system contracts, including maintenance of the sports pitches. Specifications, quotations, costings, pricing and funding information are all part of our service. Please visit our website http://sportsandsafetysurfaces.co.uk/ or call us on 01625 445760.
