A water hog is a machine that removes water from

sports ground A pitch or a sports ground is an outdoor playing area for various sports. The term ''pitch'' is most commonly used in British English, while the comparable term in American and Canadian English is playing field or sports field. For most sports ...

s. The water hog was invented by Hugh McLaughlin. Driven by a rider, it has a wide, front roller that absorbs the water, transfers it to a storage tank, and allows it to be discharged in a safe location. Some water hogs can suck off excess water at a rate of 200 gallons per minute and throw it as far as 100 feet away from the machine. It is designed so that it will not damage the turf. Originally devised for use on

cricket pitch In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets. It is long (1 chain) and wide. The surface is flat and is normally covered with extremely short grass, but can be completely d ...

es, it is now used at a wide range of sporting venues including

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping w ...

putting green A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

s, football grounds, American football stadiums, and at

gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

stadiums where it has proved very successful.

Incidents

The water hog at the Taunton cricket ground failed, in May 2006, delaying the start of the

Somerset Somerset ( , ; Archaism, archaically Somersetshire , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the so ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

C&G Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...

match, which was subsequently abandoned.

References

External links

* Cricket equipment Golf equipment Off-road vehicles {{sport-equipment-stub