Adding water through irrigation has been practiced for thousands of years. Irrigation can enhance both crop quality and quantity and it can even do so in areas where precipitation already can sustain agriculture. For recreational activities, irrigation keeps playing surfaces lush and attractive. Proper irrigation requires growers to understand soil properties, climatology, hydraulics, botany, and engineering. Effective, efficient irrigation is the result of knowing when and how much to irrigate. Making the best possible use of the water supply with a minimal impact on water quality minimises energy costs and therefore saves the owner money. THE IRRIGATION PUMP HANDBOOK This Irrigation Pump Handbook is a comprehensive presentation of modern irrigation today, and what has gone before. Our aim is not to provide a ‘how-to’ guide to building an irrigation system; rather it is to explain why an irrigation system is complex, and to make that complexity understandable. This is to help the farmer and the installer make the right decisions, ensuring that the right solution is chosen, from system layouts, to our recommendations for which pumps may be employed in irrigation systems. Grundfos’ experience with water supply pumps goes all the way back to our earliest years. In fact, a water supply pump was the very first pump we ever created. Today, our product portfolio features submersible pumps, vertical turbine pumps, end suction pumps, horizontal split-case pump, Smart and digital dosing pumps, multi-stage in-line pumps, variable frequency drives (VFD), chemical feed and pressure boosting pumps for all needs. We provide pumps for groundwater systems and surface water systems. Grundfos wishes to thank the Center for Irrigation Technology (CIT) at California State University Fresno and the Irrigation Association (IA) for their cooperation in the preparation of this book. CORRECT PUMP SELECTION Pump selection is crucial to ensuring that the farmer’s irrigation design layout meets the precise requirements for the crop and optimises irrigation efficiency. These requirements are satisfied if the pump matches the irrigation system, flow pressure is kept low, and controls are used. This is where Grundfos comes in, and a brief introduction to pump selection follows. Different types of irrigation techniques place varied demands on how water is pumped from the source and distributed within the field. The goal is to supply the entire field uniformly with water using the least amount of energy, ensuring that each plant has the amount of water it needs, neither too much nor too little. Modern irrigation methods are efficient enough to achieve this goal, and having the right pump is crucial. We are never far away from the people who need us. Our local facilities and partners ensure that pumps, replacement parts and expert advisors are always close at hand. A global company, Grundfos can be found in all major agricultural centers. To better serve farmers and irrigation system suppliers, Grundfos has brought in the Paco and Peerless product ranges to create a formidable line-up of pumping systems for irrigation. Each company has a long-standing position and experience with agricultural applications. From deep-set turbines to surface boosting operations, we have the products and expertise to meet irrigation needs going forward. Our respective heritages and contributions put us in a unique position to understand the historical needs of the market and to help farming communities meet the challenges ahead. Irrigating an entire field uniformly is best accomplished by dividing the area to be irrigated into zones. A zone can be defined according to irrigation need, types of crops, and soil type and is often served by a single irrigation valve that provides water to a large number of drippers, surface or sub-surface tape products or sprinklers that are connected by pipes or tubes. Irrigation systems are divided into zones because there is usually not enough pressure and available flow to run the irrigation system for an entire field at any one time. An irrigation controller – either mechanical or, increasingly, electrical and online – signals a zone to turn on at a specific time and keeps it on for a specified amount of time. Center pivots typically are operated by one pump and do not have zones, as when the pump is turned on, the pivot operates as well.
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