The Story

In the water-starved country of Mexico, a water distribution system was the savior for a soccer field. So how do you go from less than 10% ground cover to 100%? It all began when Larry and his son, Daniel, took a trip to a Christian youth camping facility called Palabra de Vida (Word of Life) on the outskirts of the small town of Bernal northeast of Mexico City. They met with Pastor Leo who believes that part of reaching youth is providing them with a place where they can gather and play soccer, needless to say Soccer is THE big sport in Mexico. Up until this year, the youth gathered and played on a field with almost no grass, lots of gravel and the occasional top of a buried boulder that could not be easily excavated.

From this ( May 2012 )

The 70-acre Palabra de Vida property is located in an arid, mountainous region of Mexico where the rainy season lasts just 3 months a year, with almost no precipitation (about 5 inches) the rest of the year. Potable water is purchased and pumped from the town of Bernal at a very high cost, so watering the field that way is unthinkable. The regional water authority is protective of the aquifer and currently does not allow well construction, and an existing 100+ foot well is dry.

Always looking at situations from an engineering standpoint, Larry noticed that by relocating the existing septic tank serving the camp, he could divert the effluent water beneath the soccer field to make it available to the grass.

Water Distribution System

The solution

In 2012, Madrid Engineering Group, Inc. sent two engineers to Mexico to gather additional data and work through project details with the facilities managers at the site, completed design and assisted with material purchases to construct a water distribution system, while the staff, a few subcontractors, and even students provided the construction labor. The new septic tank was constructed adjacent to and at a higher elevation than the soccer field. Over 45 cubic meters of concrete and 750 meters of rebar was used to construct the tank.

The water system design was similar to a typical leach field for a septic system, except the precious water is not intended to percolate. First, low permeability clay was mixed with native soils on the existing field reduce downward percolation. A berm was constructed on all sides to hold the water and prevent lateral migration. 3- and 4-inch underdrain pipe (over 1000 meters in length) was laid out to distribute the water, and clean gravel was used to backfill between the pipes. Next, the site was overlain by a geotextile, and topsoil was placed above the geotextile. The geotextile material acts as a separator blanket to prevent the finer topsoil from washing down into the gravel and clogging the system. Finally, sod was placed over the topsoil in August 2012.

The water from the septic system is treated using a liquid product that helps with bio-degradation of solids and eliminates odors. The water that flows from the septic tank reaches the soccer field and collects in the pore spaces between the gravel, then becomes bio-available to the grass. This method eliminates atmospheric evaporation that a sprinkler system would have and maximizes the amount of water available to the grass. Water is essentially recycled daily from toilet flushes, showers, washing machines, kitchen and other uses at the camp.

To This (April 2013 Grand Opening!)

The field was left untouched until the sod established well, and in April 2013 Larry and his wife Connie traveled to Mexico for the inaugural tournament!