How does the new turf drainage system work at Akron Stadium?

Akron Stadium will have a new, state-of-the-art drainage system in preparation for the 2026 World Cup , which will keep the pitch in better condition and make the Guadalajara home turf more durable.

The FIFA-approved system, called "Draintalent," has been implemented on the Akron Stadium pitch. In an interview with EL INFORMADOR, Raúl Barrios revealed that it is a system that will immediately extract water and also includes internal irrigation.

"It's impressive. Imagine a car radiator with a coil: every meter there's a tube with sensors that, when they detect humidity and it reaches a certain level, activate pumps that suction like a vacuum cleaner, but with water," he noted.

He also explained that, thanks to the drainage system, rain will no longer be a problem for the AKRON turf , as even the worst storm won't require the game to be stopped. By detecting the increase in water on the field, the court will dry out quickly.

“So imagine, you don't have to wait, not even for gravity to drain the water; you don't have to wait for any of that. Automatically, the pumps start sucking in air with water, and the court dries immediately. You can play even in the worst storm in the last 50 years and not have to stop the game,” he added.

Finally, he pointed out that it will have an internal irrigation system , which will avoid the use of external sprinklers and will allow the turf to continue to be hydrated even during other events. This way, the field will suffer minimal damage and will have greater durability.

“It will also have a system to irrigate the field from below. You no longer need to irrigate from above with sprinklers, because suddenly there are stadiums that have a lot of activity, a lot of concerts, other types of events, and you can't irrigate them. So you can irrigate from below, which I think is extremely innovative and very high-tech. And, finally, you top it off with a type of grass that will be seen for the first time in Mexico: this high-quality variety of Bermuda grass, like the one you see in Europe every eight days,” he concluded.

SV