Water Problem Becomes Solution

It was discovered right before the Olympics: a potentially serious problem that could have done significant damage to Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium. At that time, Tech took emphatic steps to prevent the worst.

Today, Tech has turned that problem into a solution.

When the Ramblin' Wreck of Georgia Tech plays on Grant Field, the one thing that will get wrecked is the turf. But a few years ago, the structural integrity of the stadium was also threatened.

"We began to see some erosion of the outside of the stadium,? recalled Georgia Tech associate athletic director Wayne Hogan. ?There had been some water bubbling up several years back, causing some great concern to the infrastructure of the stadium."

The source of the problem? An underground spring that runs under Bobby Dodd Stadium.

"This water had to be diverted,? Hogan said. "We actually spent some time, and energy and resources to divert the water."

The stream was re-routed to empty into the city sewer system -- and then the drought hit. Wayne Hogan remembered when a problem became a solution.

"Someone in our organization suddenly said,'You remember that water that was flowing underneath that we diverted a few years back? Maybe, just maybe, we could put that to some use," Hogan said. Georgia Tech developed a system to pipe the water from the aquifer into storage tanks to be used on Grant Field.

"We can take the water directly from those tanks, right into the irrigation system that's in place, and so the watering goes on just as if nothing had ever happened," Hogan said. Not a single drop of drinking water will be used on Grant Field. Under normal circumstances, Tech's football field needs about an inch of water a week to keep it in game shape. The reservoir system will be able to handle that -- no problem.

Hogan said the system to capture water from the underground spring will be a permanent part of the athletic department's irrigation system. He said the use of that water will spread to other fields on campus.

The engineers of Georgia Tech have turned a problem into a solution. There's a rumor the new football coach would like to see them.