Overview
ISO 16075-7:2025 provides practical guidelines for the use of treated wastewater (TWW) and treated greywater (TGW) for irrigating golf courses and other outdoor sports fields. The standard addresses both public health and agronomic considerations, and includes guidance on recovering and treating water from swimming pool operations (e.g., filter backwash) for turf irrigation. This document is intended as guidance only and is not for certification purposes.
Key topics
- Irrigation system design: planning irrigated areas, water budgeting, combining multiple water sources (TWW, TGW, surface water, potable), and measures to prevent cross-connections.
- Irrigation best practices: application timing, quantities, and system operation tailored to turfgrass needs across tees, fairways, greens, roughs, driving ranges and putting greens.
- Public health aspects: identification of public health risks, water quality considerations for TWW and TGW, and multi-barrier approaches to reduce pathogen exposure where there is frequent human contact with turf.
- Agronomic aspects: turfgrass selection and maintenance under reuse irrigation, salinity and soil management, nutrient benefits and potential impacts on turf quality and soil.
- Water recovery from sports facilities: guidance on treating and reusing swimming pool backwash, shower and handbasin greywater from clubhouses and sports centres.
- Supporting guidance and testing: informative annexes on improving salinity resistance of turf and methods for determining survival of pathogens and indicator organisms on grass surfaces.
Practical applications
This standard helps practitioners implement safe, effective water reuse for turf irrigation while protecting human health and turf quality. Typical uses include:
- Designing or retrofitting irrigation systems for golf courses that incorporate reclaimed water or recycled water.
- Managing irrigation programs for football, rugby, cricket and multi-use sports fields using alternative water sources.
- Developing operational protocols for sports centres to recover and treat greywater and pool backwash for irrigation.
- Informing local regulators, environmental managers and facility owners on acceptable practices, monitoring needs and risk-reduction measures for treated wastewater irrigation.
Who should use this standard
- Golf course superintendents and turf managers
- Sports-field operators and grounds maintenance teams
- Water reuse planners, engineers and consultants
- Landscape architects and irrigation designers
- Public health and environmental regulators
Related standards
- ISO 16075 series (Parts 1–6) - general project design, risk assessment, monitoring, disinfection, fertilization aspects for reuse irrigation
- ISO 20426 - risk management for water reuse projects
- ISO 20670 - water reuse vocabulary
Keywords: treated wastewater, reclaimed water, recycled water, treated greywater, irrigation, golf courses, sports fields, turfgrass, water reuse, public health, irrigation system design.