Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Tips To Understanding Pulse Irrigation

By Eliza Mendoza


As the world population grows, so does the need for food. Conversely, the arable land reduces with time. This calls for increased use of irrigation and other farming methods that utilize small spaces for maximum production. Pulse irrigation is a system that when used with other systems helps manage water while producing healthy crops hence more food.

This system makes it possible to effectively manage your water resources. Since it is scalable, one can set it whatever way desired for the minimal water usage. Used with a drip or sprinkler system, the irrigation will be well managed. It can also be used together with the usual low flow systems and the ultra low flow systems.

For areas with very scarce water like in the deserts, this system has proven to be effective in saving water while satisfying the plants. The operation works by allowing water to passively flow into a reservoir at controlled rate. This builds pressure steadily till it reaches a predetermined level. The pressure then forces open the outlet valves and a pulse of water goes out.

Once the pressure reduces in the reservoir, the valves close allowing pressure to recharge again. As long as the inlet flow is lower than the outlet, the recharge and discharge cycle will continue. For this to work, a drip flow controller is used at the inlet to control rate of water flow into the reservoir.

As long as the system is properly installed, it will not need any monitoring. This system keeps the plants from overwatering. This constant, controlled and frequent water flow reduces the plant demand for water and lowers usage of water. The plants also do not experience water stress due to the intermittent supply.

The outlet valve has strong magnets holding it closed as the pressure builds. When the pressure in the reservoir is strong enough, it overcomes the strength of the magnets forcing the top set of the magnets to open. A reduction in pressure allows the magnet to drop down and the recharging phase begins again and the cycle goes on and on.

Using this on a sprinkler system is very effective for open farming. When seeds are germinating, one can use a frequency of 5 second sprinkling every minute for the first 2 weeks. This can then be adjusted to 8 hours sprinkling three times a week. This frequency is determined by plant water need, weather condition and the strength of the sun in that season.

Pulse irrigation system has been proven to have many advantages in farming. Even when used with a drip or sprinkler system, you get no run offs on heavy soil. Used on sandy soil that is known to have poor water retention, there is no leaching or water loss. On hilly areas and shallow soil, water does not run off despite the terrain. One can also achieve temperature control effectively through evaporative cooling using foggers and sprinklers working intermittently. This low discharge rate allows for use of little space in greenhouse and smaller containers. The system installation costs are also lowered greatly since it requires low capacity water pumps and smaller conduits.




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