Photo Credit: Andrew Greess
Late spring through early fall is known to many parks and rec spray techs as the busy season. This is also the period when spray equipment gets the most use and when an equipment breakdown or failure will have the biggest impact on productivity, scheduling, etc.
At the end of the season, take a proactive approach to ensure the system is ready to go for the next spring. A reasonable place to start is cleaning the water tank since this area typically doesn’t receive much attention.
Tanks often experience a buildup of chemical residue from fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides falling out of suspension and accumulating on the bottom. This can cause a variety of problems. For example, material near the bottom of the tank--once it is combined with the residue--may have a higher concentration than what is supposed to be applied, or a different chemical from an earlier mix may be applied inadvertently.