Agronomic aspects and environmental impact of reusing marginal water in irrigation: a case study from Egypt

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (9) ◽  
pp. 229-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.M. El-Mowelhi ◽  
S.M.S. Abo Soliman ◽  
S.M. Barbary ◽  
M.I. El-Shahawy
Keyword(s):  
Fresh Water ◽  
Drip Irrigation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Maturity Stage ◽  
Drip Irrigation System ◽  
Soil Pathogens ◽  
High Production ◽  
Alternative Irrigation

Egypt produces approximately 2.4 million m3 of secondary treated wastewater (TWW) annually, used for irrigation directly or indirectly by blending with agricultural drainage water (BDW). The annual re-use of (BDW) is approximately 4 million m3. The safe and efficient use of marginal water (BDW and TWW) is a core objective of this study which has been operating from 1997 to date. After six growing seasons the main results can be summarized as follows: Maximizing crop production: TWW can be used for high production of oil crops (canola, soybean sunflower or maize) compared to fresh water, while BDW can be used for high production of tolerant crops (cotton and sugar beet). Crop quality: using marginal water increases the concentration of elements (Pb, B, Ni, Co) in all crops but these elements were under critical levels (there were no toxicity hazards). It is better to use alternative irrigation with fresh water under a drip irrigation system to maximise crop production and minimise the adverse effects of such water in field crops quality. Soil pollution and salinity build up: A drip irrigation system under alternative irrigation by fresh with TWW or BDW reduces salinity build up risks and the levels of elements (Pb, B, Ni, Co) in soil compared to re-use marginal water. Soil pathogens: using marginal water slightly contaminated the soil with total faecal coliform (TFC), mites, shigella and salmonella Plant anatomy: No great changes in anatomical disturbance where induced in different structures of plants which were reduced at maturity stage. Primary guidelines for re-using marginal water: From obtained results it can be recommended to use marginal water with salinity content ranged between 1.1 to 3. 64 dS/m, and elemental contents (Pb 3.0–3.51 ppm), (B 0.05–1.67 ppm), (Co 0.04–0.07 ppm), (Ni 0.08–0.15 ppm) for safe (field, vegetable and medicinal) crops production. Reuse bio solids for crop production: Sewage sludge produced from treated wastewater can be safely used by mixing with rice straw (1:1 w/w) for economic crop production and saving mineral fertilisers. General conclusion: In the North Nile Delta, marginal water (especially BDW) can be safely used without significant negative impact on the environment, but there is a need for multi-disciplinary, long-term research to investigate irrigation with marginal water in terms of the environment, public health and agricultural productivity.

scholarly journals Design and Installation of Controlled Drip Irrigation System

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Aeeman Soomro ◽  
Tanweer Hussain ◽  
Wali Muhammad Daudpota
Keyword(s):  
Fresh Water ◽  
Drip Irrigation ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Harmful Effect ◽  
Drip Irrigation System ◽  
Flood Irrigation ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
Freshwater Resource

Globally, agriculture sector uses major share of available freshwater. Pakistan is an agricultural country and its major economy depends upon the agriculture sector. In Pakistan, freshwater sacristy rate is increasing due to poor sanitation and water management system, increase in population and food demands, and use of fresh water flood irrigation system to irrigate the agricultural land. This ultimately poses harmful effect on the economy of country. About 73% of freshwater resource is consumed for the irrigation purpose in Pakistan. The increase in population and the food demand is an impetus to adopt drip irrigation system at large in the country. In such a scenario, controlled drip irrigation system serves the suitable technique to limit the water supplied to the crops at regular interval for agriculture, and replaces the flood irrigation system. Besides ordinary drip irrigation system, the controlled drip irrigation system monitors and controls the soil moisture and temperature of the crops using sensors and actuators. This study is aimed at designing and installation of controlled drip irrigation system for crop fields at Nasarpur, Sindh, Pakistan. It was expected that agricultural sector will become more productive by effectively using the fresh water resources. The study has shown that converting conventional irrigation into controlled drip irrigation has saved freshwater to a greater extent and marginal excessive use energy used in pumping and the control system. On the other hand it has also minimized the energy usage for pumping fresh water through large tube wells.

scholarly journals EVALUATION OF AN AUTOMATIC CONTROL SYSTEM WITH DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM SHOWING POOR HYDRAULIC PERFORMANCE

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-162
Author(s):  
Moataz Elnemr
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Control System ◽  
Drip Irrigation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Hydraulic Performance ◽  
Cost Ratio ◽  
Drip Irrigation System ◽  
Benefit Cost Ratio ◽  
Benefit Cost

A field experiment was conducted with the purpose of testing and evaluating the use of a closed-loop, real-time control system which was developed by (Elnemr M.K., 2017) for application to a poor hydraulic performance drip irrigation system with sandy loam soil cultivated with cucumber crop. This control system collects soil moisture data through three sensors distributed along each third of the lateral. The control system was based on calculating the average soil moisture content (MC) of the three readings and using it as an indicator to start or stop irrigation process according to the requirements of the plant. The control system will start the pump after the depletion of allowed MC percentage of available water which is one of the required inputs to operate the control system. The irrigation process continues until reaching the field capacity (FC) value. The study compared two management methods for the irrigation system. First one was using the proposed control system (Aum) and the other one was manual operation based on calculating water requirement from climatic data (Clm). Using the proposed control system led to increase cucumber crop production by 23.8% of Clm productivity. The control system led to save water and seasonal irrigation time. This led to increase water productivity and energy use efficiency of Aum if compared to Clm by 41.71% and 110% respectively. Despite the added cost to the irrigation system because of the control system, the benefit/cost ratio for Aum was higher by 24.39% due to the decrease in energy and labour costs in addition to the increase in crop production. The study recommended using the researched control system with drip irrigation systems which show poor hydraulic performance to reduce negative effects on crop production and to reach more efficient use for both water and energy with keeping the opportunity to increase benefit/cost ratio. Further studies should be done on the system with drip irrigation system that work under acceptable ranges of hydraulic performance. Also, further studies should be done to investigate the most effective and suitable distribution of the sensors along lateral.

scholarly journals Energy Reduction and Uniformity of Low-Pressure Online Drip Irrigation Emitters in Field Tests

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Sokol ◽  
Susan Amrose ◽  
Vinay Nangia ◽  
Samer Talozi ◽  
Elizabeth Brownell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drip Irrigation ◽  
Energy Cost ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Capital Cost ◽  
Energy Reduction ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Irrigation Season ◽  
Drip Irrigation System

A promising way of addressing the issue of growing water scarcity is through wider use of drip irrigation, which delivers water and fertilizer to crops in a slow, targeted manner, and has been shown to increase yields and water use efficiency. Yet, drip irrigation system adoption is low, primarily due to the high capital cost of the pressurized piping network and the pump, and operating energy cost. Lowering the water pressure needed for drip emitters to deliver water can reduce both capital and operating costs of drip systems. Here we present the results from field trials of new pressure-compensating online drip emitters that operate with a minimum compensating inlet pressure of 15 kPa (0.15 bar), in comparison to typical commercial emitters with minimum pressures of 50–100 kPa (0.5–1.0 bar). The field trials were carried out on nine farms in Morocco and Jordan over the course of one irrigation season with freshwater and treated wastewater. Low-pressure emitters are shown to reduce hydraulic energy per unit volume of water delivered by 43% on average compared to commercial emitters, without significantly sacrificing water emission uniformity (low-pressure emitters show uniformities of 81–91%, compared to 87–96% for commercial emitters). This energy reduction could lead to savings of 22–31% in the capital cost of a pump and emitters and the energy cost for a typical drip irrigation system. Thus, the low-pressure online emitters can be used as substitutes to commercial emitters that require higher water pressures, leading to reduced environmental impact and lower system costs.

ESTIMATION OF CONSUMPTIVE USE OF POTATO CROP PIANTED UNDER DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM BY USING SWRT TECHNOLOGY

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-282
Author(s):  
J.N. Abedalrahman ◽  
R.J. Mansor ◽  
D.R. Abass
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Drip Irrigation ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Potato Crop ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Organic Fertilizer ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Drip Irrigation System ◽  
Spring Season

A field experiment was carried out in the field of the College of Agriculture / University of Wasit, located on longitude  45o   50o   33.5o   East and latitude 32o 29o 49.8o North, in Spring season of the agricultural season 2019, in order to estimate the water consumption of potato crop using SWRT technology and under the drip irrigation system. The experiment was designed according to Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications and four treatments that include of the SWRT treatment (the use of plastic films under the plant root area in an engineering style), and the treatment of vegetal fertilizer (using Petmos), organic fertilizer (sheep manure), and the control treatment . Potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum L.)  var. Burin was planted for spring season on 10/2/2019 at the soil depth of 5-10 cm. The highest reference water consumption for the potato crop during the season was calculated by Najeeb Kharufa, which was 663.03 mm. The highest actual water consumption for the potato crop during the season for the control treatment was 410.1 mm. The results showed increase in the values of the crop coefficient (Kc) in the stages of tubers formation and tubers filling stage as compared to the vegetative and ripening stages, ranged from 1.37-1.92 for the two stages of tubers formation and tubers filling. The SWRT treatment gave the highest water use efficiency during the season, was 3.46 kg m-3 .

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