Watertronics in Rio Olympics Transcription
A spot on TMJ4’s Olympic Zone segment that covers Watertronics’ work on the golf course for the Summer Olympic Games Rio 2016.
TRANSCRIPTION
[00:00]
>> STEVE: Heartland Wisconsin, more than 5,300 miles away from Rio, but a little piece of that town is now buried below ground down in Brazil. Casey Geraldo is here to explain exactly what we’re talking about. Casey.
>> CASEY: That is very correct, Steve. This is the first time gol’s been a sport in the Olympics in 104 years, and a Heartland Wisconsin company gets to be a part of it. The company made the irrigation system that’s being used on the golf course in Rio.
>> RICK REINDERS: Fifteen feet long, eight feet wide, probably weighs, 15- 20,000 pounds.
>> CASEY: That’s what it takes to keep this Olympic green, green!
>> RICK REINDERS: 2,400 gallons a minute of water.
[Heavy machinery sounds]
>> CASEY: But it also takes nuts and bolts and welding-
[Welding sounds]
>> CASEY: -all of which happen right here in Wisconsin.
>> RICK REINDERS: Started building pump stations in 1986.
>> CASEY: Watertronics President Rick Reinders says, the project had some unique challenges.
>> RICK REINDERS: The golf courses is right alongside the ocean, so there’s, uh, some saltwater intrusion that comes into the reservoir, and consequently, we had to build the pumps outta stainless steel. The base is a marine grade aluminum, and the, uh, coating on the pipe is, uh, designed to prevent corrosion.
[01:09]
>> CASEY: The Waterronics crew went down to Brazil to work with the Olympic team over the course of years.
>> WATERTRONICS EMPLOYEE: We actually got the order in July of 13. We, we shipped it in March of 14. It got started one year later. So it’s very long-term thing that happens, there’s a lot of planning way ahead on something this big.
>> CASEY: Through that time, the company got to watch the golf course go from this, and this, to this.
>> WATERTRONICS EMPLOYEE: Really what was impressive of the transformation from a pretty rough looking area to what it is now, is an amazing amount of effort to get it there.
>> CASEY: An amazing amount of work to do, but easier than you might think to get. Their consultant brought the company this half a million dollar job.
>> RICK REINDERS: Golf is, uh, not very prevalent in Brazil. So this is unique in Brazil.
>> CASEY: Planting a piece of Wisconsin and the United States in Brazil and, in the Olympics. Golf starts a week from today, and of course you can watch the Summer Olympics right here on today’s TMJ4.
>> STEVE: Neat to see a local company playing a role. Casey Geraldo, thank you so much.
