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Flooded Hockey Pitch Sand Infill Cleaning

Many hockey pitches in the UK are made using sand-filled synthetic grass surfacing, and it’s a good idea to carry out regular hockey pitch sand infill cleaning to help keep the surface in top condition. The 2G sand filled sports pitches are installed in an artificial grass carpet with a layer of silica sand put between the fibres to help the grass stand up and create natural playing qualities. Without correct proactive maintenance, these 2G sports surfaces can become flooded and lose their playability and safety characteristics.

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Flooded Synthetic Sports Surface

Over time, sand-filled hockey pitch surfaces can lose their porosity and become waterlogged if they aren’t looked after properly. When a dead organic matter like plants and leaves are allowed to sit on the artificial grass surface they can break down and get stuck within the carpet pile, contaminating the sand infill. This means that the pores within the synthetic turf pitch system become blocked. When these pores get blocked up, the sand filled pitch loses its permeability so water can’t drain through it anymore and it sits on the surface instead, making the pitch waterlogged and unsafe for use. If this problem isn’t tackled with reactive maintenance as soon as possible, it can cause damage to the turf carpet and lead to expensive resurfacing work.

It’s important to carry out regular sand contamination testing to assess whether hockey pitch sand infill cleaning is required to get rid of dirt and contaminants such as silt, mud and leaves. These tests involve extracting samples of the sand infill and mixing them with water and a dispersal agent, this then shows how much contamination is present in the infill layer. Once the test has been carried out, a suitable maintenance plan can be put in place to prevent or fix the problems of flooded hockey pitch surfacing.

In this video you can see our team completing a full cleaning and rejuvenation process for a contaminated sports surface:

Hockey Pitch Sand Infill Cleaning

Depending on the conditions of the 2G sports pitch and how contaminated the sand has become, there are different methods of flooded sport surface cleaning which can be done to remove the contamination. The first is a deep clean, this involves lifting the sand out of the pitch with a machine, putting it through a filtering process to remove any dirt, and then putting the sand back down into the synthetic carpet pile. A flooded hockey pitch sand infill cleaning method that is used for more contaminated pitches is sports surface rejuvenation maintenance. This is done by extracting all of the dirty sand infill and removing it from the pitch completely, a new layer of sand infill will then be put down within the synthetic grass fibres.

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Regular Surface Maintenance

To prevent the problems of flooded hockey pitch surfacing, you should also make sure that you do regular proactive maintenance like drag brushing to keep the sand infill evenly spread and prevent contaminants from sitting on the surface. Information on all of the different maintenance methods can be found at our website on http://softsurfaces.co.uk/, as well as details of all of our products.

There are many benefits of artificial hockey pitches that make them a popular choice for schools and clubs.

If your 2G outdoor sports surface is in need of sand infill cleaning, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us! You can use our contact form to send us all the details in regards to your enquiry including an area size, location and a brief specification of the work that needs to be done. A member of our team will get in touch with you to discuss a price for the work and to offer you some advice on putting your own sports pitch maintenance plan into place.

Where to Buy Silica Sand for Artificial Grass

We would always recommend having a specialist company come out to deal with the maintenance of an artificial grass pitch. While you can buy silica sand yourself, it is advised that you have an expert apply it to the grass surface using the correct machinery and tools. If the sand is not applied in the right way, this can lead to damage and drainage problems on the surface.

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