The Millennium stadium in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, is a truly magnificent venue for sport and entertainment. Built for the World Cup Rugby Union tournament in 1999 the stadium has been host to a wide range of events at the highest level.

From the biggest sporting events such as the world cup and football's FA Cup final, to huge music events featuring such stars as Tina Turner and Robbie Williams the stadium's facilities have delighted visitors who continue to clamour for tickets to the big events or for the popular hourly stadium tours.

AQUAFLEX was installed in the stadium during the construction stage of the venue.

A special underground duct was installed solely to house AQUAFLEX data cables and junction boxes so that the pitch could be monitored continuously.

The stadium pitch is grown on turf modules that can be moved into or out-of the stadium depending on what type of event is being held there. Some modules include AQUAFLEX sensors, which connect to the junction boxes at each end of the giant stadium.

AQUAFLEX sensors provide the groundstaff with round the clock information whilst other AQUAFLEX sensors link directly into the automated under-soil heating and drainage system.

"We really rely on it" said Tony

"I like to look at the moisture and temperature traces several times a day, particularly first thing in the morning because that determines how I will manage the pitch on the day. Whether I add moisture, or whether I need to extract it with our under-soil suction drainage system. And in the winter months the under-soil heating system needs to be used and this affects the moisture conditions in the root-zone.

AQUAFLEX helps me control these conditions the way I want them.

By looking at the graph I can see the effect of the drainage fan on the moisture level, or the effect of irrigation, or the heating.

It helps you to get these things right."

"We came in for a bit of criticism from the press last year because of the condition of the pitch. In common with other fully enclosed stadiums, the problem is we have very little light available to the grass and there is little air movement. In the colder months much of the grass is permanently under shade."

"Last year we had a hectic schedule of events in a short space of time. It would be tough enough for a normal stadium but considering the environment that we have here many people thought we couldn't do it.

We'd had the World Cup the year before and a full season of events through the summer. The fact that we were able to keep the pitch playable owes much to the information we got from AQUAFLEX.

We had six major international rugby games in only five weeks. That included Wales' games against South Africa, USA, New Zealand, the Barbarians and part of the Six Nations Championship. In addition to the big games we had all the training sessions and some lower level events too. The weather wasn't particularly kind to us either.

AQUAFLEX really helped get us though that. I don't know what we would have done without it. It gave us the edge to keep the pitch playable right through the autumn until we had a break in play and were able to renew the surface."

Prior to the FA Cup final, a two-inch depth was skimmed off the surface and the pitch re-turfed.

Everyone agrees that the pitch was in excellent condition for not only the cup final but also the football league play-off matches too.

Tony is convinced that AQUAFLEX is the way ahead for today's demanding conditions and recommends the system wholeheartedly.

"When they first started talking about putting Aquaflex sensors in the pitch I must admit I was sceptical. We were still building the stadium and I had other things on my mind as we prepared for the opening.