05 Drip Irrigation

DRIP
IRRIGATION
Rajat Mishra
Asst. Professor
Civil Engineering Department
DRIP OR TRICKLE IRRIGATION
Introduction: In this irrigation system:

 Water is applied directly to the crop ie. entire field
is not wetted
 Water is conserved
 Weeds are controlled because only the places
getting water can grow weeds.
 There is a low pressure system.
DRIP OR TRICKLE IRRIGATION
There is a slow rate of water application somewhat

matching the consumptive use. Application rate can
be as low as 1 - 12 l/hr.
There is reduced evaporation, only potential
transpiration is considered.
There is no need for a drainage system.
Components of a Drip Irrigation
System
Control
Head Wetting Pattern
Unit
Mainline
Or
Manifold
Emitter
Lateral
Drip Irrigation System
The Major Components of a Drip Irrigation

System include:
a) Head unit which contains filters to
remove debris that may block emitters;
fertilizer tank; water meter; and pressure
regulator.
b) Mainline, Laterals, and Emitters
which can be easily blocked.
Water Use for Trickle Irrigation System
The design of drip system is similar to that of
the sprinkler system except that the spacing
of emitters is much less than that of
sprinklers and that water must be filtered and
treated to prevent blockage of emitters.
Another major difference is that not all areas
are irrigated.
In design, the water use rate or the area
irrigated may be decreased to account for
this reduced area.
Water Use for Trickle Irrigation System
Karmeli and Keller (1975) suggested the

following water use rate for trickle irrigation design
ETt = ET x P/85

Where: ETt is average evapotranspiration rate for crops under
trickle irrigation;
P is the percentage of the total area shaded by crops;
ET is the conventional evapotranspiration rate for the crop. E.g.
If a mature orchard shades 70% of the area and the
conventional ET is 7 mm/day, the trickle irrigation design rate
is:
7/1 x 70/85 = 5.8 mm/day
OR use potential transpiration, Tp = 0.7 Epan where Epan is the
evaporation from the United States Class A pan.
Emitters
Consist of fixed type and variable size types. The fixed
size emitters do not have a mechanism to
compensate for the friction induced pressure drop
along the lateral while the variable size types have it.
Emitter discharge may be described by:
q = Khx
Where: q is the emitter discharge; K is constant for

each emitter ; h is pressure head at which the emitter
operates and x is the exponent characterized by the
flow regime.
Emitters Contd.
The exponent, x can be determined by
measuring the slope of the log-log plot of
head Vs discharge.
 With x known, K can be determined using

the above equation.
 Discharges are normally determined from

the manufacturer's charts (see Fig. 3.7 in
Note).
Water Distribution from Emitters
Emitter discharge variability is greater than that of
sprinkler nozzles because of smaller openings(lower
flow) and lower design pressures.
Eu = 1 - (0.8 Cv/ n 0.5 )
Where Eu is emitter uniformity; Cv is manufacturer's
coefficient of variation(s/x ); n is the number of
emitters per plant.
Application efficiency for trickle irrigation is defined as:
Eea = Eu x Ea x 100
Where Eea is the trickle irrigation efficiency; Ea is the

application efficiency as defined earlier.
Trickle System Design
 The diameter of the lateral should be selected so

that the difference in discharge between emitters
operating simultaneously will not exceed 10 %.
 This allowable variation is same as for sprinkler
irrigation laterals already discussed.
 To stay within this 10 % variation in flow, the head
difference between emitters should not exceed 10
to 15 % of the average operating head for long-
path or 20 % for turbulent flow emitters.
 The maximum difference in pressure is the head
loss between the control point at the inlet and the
pressure at the emitter farthest from the inlet.
 The inlet is usually at the manifold where the
pressure is regulated.
 The manifold is a line to which the trickle laterals
are connected.
Trickle System Design Contd.
For minimum cost, on a level area 55 % of the allowable head
loss should be allocated to the lateral and 45 % to the
manifold.
The Friction Loss for Mains and Sub-mains can be computed
from Darcy-Weisbach equation for smooth pipes in trickle
systems when combined with the Blasius equation for friction
factor.
The equation is:
Hf = K L Q 1.75 D – 4.75
Where: Hf is the friction loss in m;
K is constant = 7.89 x 105 for S.I. units for water at 20 ° C;
L is the pipe length in m;
Q is the total pipe flow in l/s; and
D is the internal diameter of pipe in mm.
Trickle System Design Contd
As with sprinkler design, F should be used
to compute head loss for laterals and
manifolds with multiple outlets, by
multiplying a suitable F factor
(See Table 8 of Sprinkler Design section)
by head loss.
F values shown below can also be used.
Table 3.7: Correction Factor, F for Friction
Losses in Aluminium Pipes with Multiple
Outlets.
 Number of Outlets F*
 1 1.00
 2 0.51
 4 0.41
 6 0.38
 8 0.37
 12 0.36
 16 0.36
 20 0.35
 30 or more 0.35
 *Values adapted from Jensen and Frantini (1957
SUB-SURFACE IRRIGATION
Applied in places where natural soil and
topographic condition favour water
application to the soil under the surface, a
practice called sub-surface irrigation.
These conditions include:
Impervious layer at 15 cm depth or more
Pervious soil underlying the restricting
layer.
Uniform topographic condition
Moderate slopes.
The operation of the system involves a
huge reservoir of water and level is
controlled by inflow and outflow.
The inflow is water application and rainfall
while the outflow is evapotranspiration and
deep percolation.
It
does not disturb normal farm operations.
Excess water can be removed by pumping.
CHOICE OF IRRIGATION METHODS:
The following criteria should be considered:
 Water supply available
 Topography of area to be irrigated
 Climate of the area
 Soils of the area
 Crops to be grown
 Economics
 Local traditions and skills

INFORMATION TO BE COLLECTED ON A VISIT
TO A PROPOSED IRRIGATION SITE.
 a) Soil Properties: Texture and structure,

moisture equilibrium points, water holding capacity,
agricultural potential, land classification, kinds of
crops that the soil can support.
 b) Water Source: Water source availability eg.
surface water, boreholes etc., hydrologic data of
the area, water quantity, water quality, eg. sodium
adsorption ratio, salt content, boron etc.; possible
engineering works necessary to obtain water.
 c)Weather data: Temperature, relative humidity,
sunshine hours and rainfall.
 d) Topography e.g. slope: This helps to determine
the layout of the irrigation system and method of
irrigation water application suited for the area.
 e) History of People and Irrigation in the area:
Check past exposure of people to irrigation and land
tenure and level of possible re-settlement or
otherwise.
 f)Information about crops grown in the area:
Check preference by people, market potential,
adaptability to area, water demand, growth schedules
and planting periods.
Thank you

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DRIP

Introduction: In this irrigation system:

There is a slow rate of water application somewhat

The Major Components of a Drip Irrigation

Karmeli and Keller (1975) suggested the

Emitter discharge may be described by:

Where: q is the emitter discharge; K is constant for

 With x known, K can be determined using

 Discharges are normally determined from

Where Eea is the trickle irrigation efficiency; Ea is the

 The diameter of the lateral should be selected so

 Local traditions and skills

 a) Soil Properties: Texture and structure,

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