scholarly journals Capillary Mats for Maintenance of Plants in the Retail Nursery

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula K. Schuch ◽  
Jack J. Kelly ◽  
Trent Teegerstrom
Keyword(s):  
Irrigation System ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Well Water ◽  
Water Application ◽  
Overhead Irrigation ◽  
Effective System ◽  
Set Up ◽  
True Alternative ◽  
Overhead Sprinkler

Capillary mats and overhead sprinkler irrigation were used in a simulated retail environment to maintain annual and perennial plants in containers for various time periods during summer and winter. Combining the results from both seasons, four species with dense canopies had larger canopy sizes when maintained on the capillary mats, three species requiring more drainage had larger canopies with overhead irrigation, and five species were unaffected by irrigation systems. Substrate electrical conductivity was higher for some species in winter for plants on capillary mats, conserving fertilizer compared with overhead irrigation. Most species tolerated either irrigation system well. Water application was 71% less in summer and 62% less in winter to maintain plants on capillary mats compared with overhead irrigation. An economic analysis compared the investment required for setup and maintenance of plants in a retail situation using hand watering, overhead sprinkler, or capillary mat irrigation. The partial budget indicates that capillary mats are a labor-saving alternative to hand watering in a retail nursery and will compensate for the higher initial investment within less than 1 year. The overhead sprinklers are the most cost-effective system of the three because of less costly initial set-up and maintenance than the capillary mats; however, they are not a true alternative to hand watering in a retail situation because they interfere with customer traffic and worker activities.

Raising the Standard of Operation of Small Sewage Works

1990 ◽  
Vol 22 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 261-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Dakers ◽  
A. G. Cockburn
Keyword(s):  
Catchment Area ◽  
Suspended Solids ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Operational Strategies ◽  
Biological Filter ◽  
Effective System ◽  
High Standards ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Remedial Work ◽  
Causes Of Failure

Thames Water operates about 400 sewage works in the catchment area of the River Thames, over half of these serve populations of less than 2000. These small works are mainly biological filter works but also include oxidation ditches and reed beds. Most of these works discharge to the headwaters of salmonid rivers which are used as drinking water sources and therefore have to meet high standards including in many cases full nitrification and low suspended solids. The paper describes the consent standards set for the works. Currently a number of small works do not meet these standards so Thames Water has committed itself to having all works operating within standards by 1992. There are a number of reasons for failure which include, overloading due to increase in population and water use, trade effluent discharges, and operational problems. Small works may also fail to meet their standards because they are unmanned apart from infrequent maintenance visits, and thus any plant failure may go unnoticed for some days. Thames Water is adopting a two fold strategy to overcome these problems. Firstly, so that operational problems may be identified quickly a simple cost effective system of automation and telemetry is being installed and secondly, to overcome operational and facility deficiencies, a Project Management team has been set up to identify the causes of failure, to prioritise remedial work, to recommend alternative operational strategies, if appropriate, to design and build extensions or new works if appropriate, and, if remedial works cannot be built quickly enough, to install temporary plant to ensure compliance with effluent standards.

scholarly journals Cyclic Sprinkler Irrigation and Pre-irrigation Substrate Water Content Affect Water and N Leaching from Containers

1994 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 198-202
Author(s):  
Nabila S. Karam ◽  
Alexander X. Niemiera
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Application Rate ◽  
N Leaching ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Water Application ◽  
Total N ◽  
Continuous Irrigation ◽  
Continuous Application

Abstract A series of sprinkler irrigation experiments were conducted to determine the influences of water application rate (WAR), pre-irrigation substrate water content (PSWC), and cyclic irrigation on water and N leaching from container-grown plants. Prior to experiments, Marigold (Tagetes erecta L. ‘Apollo’), were glass house-grown in pine bark-filled 3.8 liter (1 gal) containers. Prior to treatment, substrate was dried via evapotranspiration (ET) to targeted PSWCs. A simulated overhead irrigation system applied the daily water allotment in a single continuous application or cyclically (multiple applications); in most cases the respective ET volumes were applied to the substrate. Water application efficiency (WAE; water vol retained in substrate + water vol applied to substrate) was determined, and in some experiments, leachates were analyzed for EC, NO3-N and NH4-N. A negative linear relationship existed between WAR and WAE. Leachate NO3-N and NH4-N concentrations were unaffected by WAR, however, total N leached increased with increasing WAR. WAE of cyclic irrigation was 4% higher (absolute basis) than with continuous irrigation; WAE increased as the time interval between cyclic applications increased from 20 to 60 min. Regardless of how water was applied, WAE was inversely related to PSWC and application volume. These experiments showed that the most effective method to increase WAE is to irrigate at relatively low PSWCs; if irrigation occurs at relatively high PSWCs, then relatively low volumes should be applied.

Growth and yield of rice under sprinkler irrigation on a free-draining soil

1985 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 636 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Blackwell ◽  
WS Meyer ◽  
RCG Smith
Keyword(s):  
Irrigation System ◽  
New South ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Sprinkler System ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Pan Evaporation ◽  
Water Application ◽  
Class A ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Class A Pan

A line-source sprinkler irrigation system was used to study rice growth under irrigation on a free-draining soil in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area of New South Wales. Ponded rice was grown on the same soil for comparison. Seven levels of sprinkler water application were examined, ranging from 26 to128% of Class 'A' pan evaporation. Apparent efficiency of water use ranged from 3.4 kg of grain/mm for the highest yielding sprinkler treatment to 1.85 kg of grain/mm for the highest yielding ponded treatment. Excellent weed control was achieved by herbicides applied through a sprinkler system.

scholarly journals Sustainable Water Resources Using Corner Pivot Lateral, A Novel Sprinkler Irrigation System Layout for Small Scale Farms

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 2601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Rad ◽  
Lei Gan ◽  
Xiaobing Chen ◽  
Shaohong You ◽  
Liangliang Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Distribution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
System Component ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Can Technique ◽  
Distribution Uniformity ◽  
And Control

Sprinkler irrigation systems are widely used in medium and large scale farms in different forms. However less types are available to apply in small farms due to their high costs. The current study was done according to a novel cost effective design for a semi-permanent sprinkler irrigation system for small farm owners. The new layout known as Corner Pivot Lateral (CPL) was examined in irrigation test center at Lijian Scientific and Technological Demonstration Park, at Nanning city, China. CPL was implemented without a main/sub mainline pipe, by applying a single pivoting lateral at the corner of the plot that directly connected to the resource to convey water from the pump. The lateral moves around the corner using a rotating elbow in a quadrant pattern manually to cover the entire farm. A conventional semi-permanent system was applied for the same farm as reference. A cost analysis on the required components as well as annual operational costs was carried out for comparison and control. Results showed that a lower system component would be needed for the CPL method. Overall, more than a 15% capital cost reduction with 7% annual cost decrement was achieved for CPL in this experiment comparatively. The Catch can technique was applied to examine the CPL system’s efficiency and 79% water distribution uniformity around the sprinkler was obtained. This new method can encourage small estate holders to switch from traditional to pressurized systems which optimizes water application costs.

Modification of Water Application Rates and Intermittent Control for Sprinkler Frost Protection

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 1277-1285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongzong Lu ◽  
Yongguang Hu ◽  
Chen Zhao ◽  
Richard L. Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategy ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Application Rate ◽  
Intermittent Control ◽  
Water Application ◽  
Modified Model ◽  
Irrigated Area ◽  
Frost Protection ◽  
Tea Field

Abstract. To validate the feasibility of an automated frost protection sprinkler system, a sprinkler irrigation system with an optimal water application rate was designed, constructed, and tested in a tea field. A modified calculation model of the water application rate was provided by simulation with different values of airflow velocity, air temperature, air humidity, and spray water temperature. An intermittent control strategy was provided using a modified model that included the start and stop time of the system and adjustment of the water application rate. Tea field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of frost protection based on this control strategy during frost night events. The results showed that a variable water application rate was better suited for frost protection, and the modified intermittent control automatically regulated the water application rate. In early spring and winter heavy frost nights, the canopy temperature (Tc) of the irrigated area remained above -1.2°C and 0°C, respectively, which is higher than the critical damage temperature for tea plants. The Tc of the irrigated area was approximately 2.8°C higher than that of a non-irrigated area. Moreover, the irrigated area with the modified model had a slower temperature rise after sunrise compared with the non-irrigated area, which was beneficial for frost protection. This sprinkler control strategy is an effective frost protection method that could be applied for in tea fields in the Yangtze River region. The calculation and simulation procedure of the water application rate would be applied for constructing sprinklers for different micrometeorological environments. Keywords: Frost protection, Intermittent control, Spraying water temperature, Sprinkler irrigation system, Tea, Water application rate.

Analysis of Experiments Involving Line Source Sprinkler Irrigation

1988 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. D. V. Morgan ◽  
M. K. V. Carr
Keyword(s):  
Line Source ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Application Rate ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Response Curves ◽  
Fertility Trend ◽  
Irrigation Treatments ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Variable Water

SUMMARYThe line-source sprinkler irrigation system provides a continuously variable water application rate, which depends on distance from the line-source. The system is simple to set up and minimizes the amount of land required for experimental work. As the irrigation treatments are allocated systematically, the assumptions of analysis of variance are not satisfied. It is proposed that the effects of irrigation treatments be assessed using analysis of covariance, with distance from the sprinkler line as covariate, thus adjusting for a linear fertility trend. This method of analysis provides an approximate residual mean square for the fitting of response curves, but could be vulnerable to a quadratic fertility trend.

Design analysis of a microcontroller based Irrigation system

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-21
Author(s):  
A.A. Okandeji ◽  
M.B. Olajide ◽  
A.A. Ponnle ◽  
D.S. Kuponiyi
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Lower Limit ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Design Analysis

This work considers the design analysis of a low-cost microcontroller-based irrigation controller capable of managing irrigation for a small area of land based on real-time values of soil moisture and temperature. The method employed is to continuously monitor the soil moisture level to decide whether irrigation is needed, and how much water is needed in the soil. In particular, the microcontroller based circuit device performs the action of irrigation management. Specifically, it does this by continuously monitoring the moisture content of the soil, and comparing the values with two set reference values; the upper-limit, and lower-limit moisture content values, and then induces the corresponding action required. When the soil moisture content goes below the lower-limit value set by the user, the system observes this and begins irrigation action. Results obtained show that this design is cost-effective, and guarantees efficient water supply and effective labor management. Also, irrigation test results show that the duration of spray largely depends on the soil texture, grass identity and moisture content. In particular, sprinkler irrigation method in loamy soil took longer than in sandy soil, while clay soil irrigation took the longest time. Keywords: Automatic-Irrigation Controller, Irrigation, Microcontroller, Water-supply

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