IRRIGATION ENGINEERING (CE417)

Presentation No. 2 (4 hrs)

METHODS OF IRRIGATION
 Irrigation methods
 Factors affecting choice of irrigation methods
 Non-pressurized methods
 Pressurized methods
 Uniformity coefficient
Courtesy:
 Irrigation and Hydraulic Structures: Theory, Design and Practice, Dr Iqbal Ali, NED University
Karachi
 Irrigation and Waterpower Engineering by B. C. Punmia and Pande B. B. Lal
 Irrigation Engineering and Hydraulic Structures by S. K. Garg
 Waller and Yitayew, “Irrigation and Drainage Engineering”, Springer International Publishing
Switzerland, 2016.
 Frontiers in Agronomy (April 2021), DOI: 10.3389/fagro.2021.659722
 Steve Amador, “Irrigation Evaluation and Maintenance”, Modesto Junior College.
 Bubbler irrigation of trees: http://www.fao.org/3/a1336e/a1336e13.pdf

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 Lesson Learning Objectives

After completion of this class discussion the students will be

able to:
 give classification of Methods of Irrigation;
 choose an appropriate irrigation method;
 describe the Non-pressurized methods of irrigation;
 describe the Pressurized methods of irrigation; and
 determine the Uniformity coefficient.

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 Fair Use Notice

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class being conducted by the presenter.

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 IRRIGATION METHODS or
MODES OF APPLICATION OF WATER TO CROPS
A variety of ways to irrigate to agricultural fields:
1. Non-pressurized
a) Surface Irrigation Methods:
Just flooding water. About 90% of the irrigated areas in the world
b) Sub-Surface Irrigation:
Flooding water underground and allowing it to come up by capillarity to
crop roots.
2. Pressurized/High Efficiency Irrigation Methods (HIES)
Applying water under pressure.
(i) Drip irrigation and
(ii) Sprinkler Irrigation

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Factors Affecting Choice of Irrigation Method

The selection of the irrigation method is based on the following

factors:
• Soil characteristics of the land to be irrigated
• Topography of the area
• Type of crop and its requirements
• Amount of water required in each irrigation
• Available water supply
• Size of the stream supplying irrigation water

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Non-pressurized (surface) Irrigation Methods

Their main classification of surface methods is as follows:

(1) Uncontrolled/Wild/Free flooding
(2) Check flooding
(3) Border flooding / Border Strip Method
(4) Basin flooding
(5) Contour laterals
(6) Furrow irrigation method
(7) Raised bed method

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(1) Uncontrolled/Wild/Free Flooding
 Wild flooding method is the earliest and
the primitive method of application of
water to the land
 In this method the water is applied by
spreading it over the land.
 Prior to the application of water, no land
preparations are done in the form of
border or field ditches
 The water is allowed to flow along the
natural slope of the land
 Most suitable for close growing crops,
pastures, etc., particularly where the
land is steep.
 Depending upon the slope, texture of soil, crops to be grown, etc. spacing between
contour ditches / laterals / subsidiary ditches is kept 20 to 50 m
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(2) Check Flooding
 Check flooding is similar to
ordinary flooding except that
the water is controlled by
surrounding the irrigated area
with low and flat levees
 Levees are generally
constructed 5 to 10 cm high
along the contours
 These levees are connected with cross-levees at convenient places
 The confined plot area varies from 0.2 to 0.8 hectare
 In check flooding, the check may be filled with water quickly/slowly
depending upon the infiltration of soil
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(3) Border Flooding or Border Strip Method
Land is divided into a number of strips, separated by low levees called
borders.
Strip size: 10 to 20 m wide, and 100 to 400 m long.
To prevent water from concentrating on either side of the border, the
land should be leveled perpendicular to the flow.

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The supply ditch / irrigation stream may either be in the form of a
channel (earthen/lined) or underground concrete pipe having
risers at intervals.

Root zone
Percolation losses

The size of the supply ditch depends upon the infiltration rate of
the soil, and the width of the border strip.

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 If
Q =Discharge through the supply ditch;
A =Area of land strip to be irrigated;
y =Depth of water flowing over the border strip;
f =Rate of infiltration of soil;
Then
Time required to cover the given area is given by the equation
𝑦 𝑄 𝑦 𝑄
𝑡 = 2.3 log10 = 𝑙𝑛
𝑓 𝑄 − 𝑓𝐴 𝑓 𝑄 − 𝑓𝐴

And, maximum area that can be irrigated in a border strip, is

given by the equation
𝑄
𝐴𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
𝑓

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Example:
Determine the time required to irrigate a strip of land of 0.04 hectares in area from a
tube-well with a discharge of 0.02 cumec. The infiltration capacity of the soil may be
taken as 5 cm/hr, and the average depth of flow on the field as 10 cm. Also determine
the maximum area that can be irrigated from this tube well.
Data:
A = 0.04 hectares = 0.04 x 104 m2= 400 m2; f = 5 cm/hr = 5/100 m/hr= 0.05 m/hr.
Q = 0.02 cumec = 0.02 m3/sec = 0.02 x 60 x 60 m3/hr = 72 m3/hr; y = 10 cm = 0.1 m.
Required: t = ?; Amax = ?

Using the equation,

Putting the values,

i.e. Ans-1

Maximum area that can be irrigated is computed as

Ans-2
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Example:
Determine the time required to irrigate an area of 0.1 ha using the border strip method
when a tube-well is discharging at the rate of 0.03 cumec. Take infiltration capacity of
the soil as 5 cm/hr and the average depth of flow on the field is expected to be 7.5 cm.
Also determine the maximum area that can be irrigated from this tube well water.
Data:
A = 0.1 hectares = 0.1 x 104 m2= 1000 m2; f = 5 cm/hr = 5/100 m/hr = 0.05 m/hr.
Q = 0.03 cumec = 0.03 m3/sec = 0.03 x 60 x 60 m3/hr = 108 m3/hr; y = 7.5 cm = 0.075 m.

Required: t = ?; Amax = ?

𝑦 𝑄
Putting the values in the equation, 𝑡 = 𝑙𝑛
𝑓 𝑄−𝑓𝐴

0.075 108
We get 𝑡= 𝑙𝑛 = 0.9325 ℎ𝑟 = 55.9519 min Ans-1
0.05 108− 0.05×1000

Maximum area that can be irrigated is computed as,

𝑄 108
𝐴𝑚𝑎𝑥 = = = 2160 𝑚2 = 0.216 ℎ𝑎 Ans-2
𝑓 0.05

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(4) Basin Flooding
Special type of check flooding adopted
specially for orchard trees.
One or more trees are generally placed
in the basin, and the surface is flooded
as in check method, by ditch water

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(5) Contour Farming
 Practiced in hilly areas with slopes and falling contour.
 The land is divided into series of horizontal strips called
terraces.
 Small bunds are constructed at the end of each terrace
to hold water up to equal height.

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(6) Furrow Irrigation Method
Furrow irrigation avoids flooding the entire field surface by
channeling the flow along the primary direction of the field using
“furrows” or “grooves”.

Only one-fifth to one-half of the land surface is wetted by water,

and results in less evaporation and percolation losses
Furrows spacing determined by the proper spacing of the plants.
Furrows depth = from 8 to 30 cm; Max. furrows length = 400 m.

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Siphons/hose pipes:
It prevents the necessity of breaking the
ditch bank, and provides a uniform flow
into the furrow.

Cutting the ridge:

Direct gravity flow whereby water is
diverted from the head ditch to the
furrows by cutting the ridge or levee.

Gated pipes:
Large portable pipe (up to 450 mm)
with gate openings can be used to
deliver water to the furrows.

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 Permanent Skip Furrow Irrigation (PSFI) Approach
• PSFI can halve the amount of irrigation water without causing a significant
decrease in crop yield, the salts tend to accumulate on the drier side of the ridge

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 Permanent Skip Furrow Irrigation (PSFI) Approach (continued…)

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(7) Raised Bed Method
 Raised bed method of irrigation is modified version of furrow
method
 In this method ridge is widened to provide more space under
cultivation and consequently less area is submerged with water

Furrows Raised bed

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 Why Raised-bed /Ridge Planting is preferred
over Furrows and Flooding Methods?
The conventional irrigation methods like flooding, furrows, etc. are
inefficient, resulting:
 loss of valuable irrigation water (particularly the loss of costly
pumped water)
 loss of applied nutrients

 getting poor crop yield

Whereas, in raised-bed planting method, plantation is prepared on

raised-bed/ridges:

 To save the valuable water and increase the crop-production

 To do inter-cropping pattern such as wheat with sugarcane
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Benefits of Raised Bed Method Additional benefits of
 Improves crop yields up to Sugarcane inter cropping with
25% wheat :
 Saves water up to 40%  Increase in crop intensity
 Less weeds and less lodging  Less fertilizer requirement
of the standing crop  Water saving for both
 Easy to drain rain water crops
 Low effect of standing rain  Less cost for crop growth
water
 Less weed infestation in
 Saves up to 40% energy
sugarcane crop
used for pumping water

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 Sub-surface Irrigation Method
Natural sub-surface irrigation can be practiced where ground
water table is high, and water reaches the root zone by capillary
action.
This method deposit salts in the root zone resulting in their high
concentration. Practiced in Pakistan to grow salt tolerant and
salt consuming grass like "Kalar grass” to remedy the saline
conditions.
Artificial sub-surface irrigations is very expensive as it requires
laying down perforated pipes at a depth of 0.5m below the
surface at about 0.5m spacing and requires higher horizontal
permeability and lower vertical permeability of the soil.
• https://youtu.be/DBKctWEzy0c
• https://youtu.be/utdyYvIznJE
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Pressurized/High Efficiency Irrigation Methods
(1) Drip/Trickle Irrigation Method
 One of the latest field irrigation
techniques
 Adopted at places where there
exists acute scarcity of irrigation
water and other salt problems
 Water is slowly and directly
applied to the root zone of the
plants, thereby minimizing the
losses by evaporation and
percolation.

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• Slow, frequent, precise application of water
• Most efficient – highest yield
• Water used – 10% of Flooding/Border strip method
• Irrigation efficiency – 80%

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Water oozes out of these small drip nozzles uniformly and at a very
small rate, directly into the plant roots area.

The head consists of a pump to lift water, so as to produce the desired

pressure of about 2.5 atmosphere, for ensuring proper flow of water
through the system.

The lifted irrigation water is passed through a fertilizer tank, so as to

mix the fertilizer directly in the irrigation water, and then through a
filter, so as to remove the suspended particles from the water, to avoid
clogging of drip nozzles.

The mains and sub-mains are the specially designed small sized pipes,
made of flexible material like black PVC.

These are generally buried or laid on the ground, as shown in Fig.

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The laterals are very small sized (usually 1 to 1.25 cm dia.), specially
designed, black PVC pipes, taking off from the mains or sub-mains.

Laterals can usually be up to 50 m long, and one lateral line is laid for
each row of crop. The drip nozzles, also called emitters, or valves, are
fixed on laterals, at regular intervals of about 0.5 to 1 m or so,
discharging water at very small rates of the order of 2 to 10 liters per
hour.

These pressurized methods involves specialized knowledge and are not

being adopted by our ordinary farmers.

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 Where we can apply?

Banana Cotton

Onion
Cucumber

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(2) Sprinkler Irrigation Method
Water is applied to the soil in the form of a spray through a
network of pipes and pumps.
A kind of an artificial rain and, therefore, gives very good results.
Water under pressure is supplied to the laterals through mains and
sub-mains.
The water jet comes out through Revolving sprinkler heads usually
mounted on rising pipes attached to the laterals.

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 Sprinkler Irrigation Method (continued…)
It is a costly process and widely used in U.S.A.
It can be used for all types of soils, different topographies and
slopes.
It can advantageously be used for many crops, because it fulfils the
normal requirement of uniform distribution of water.
This method possesses great potentialities for irrigating the areas,
where other types of surface or sub-surface irrigation are very
difficult.
This method has not become popular in Pakistan for the simple
reason of cost and a lot of technical requirements.
The correct design and efficient operation are very important for the
success of this method.

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 Sprinkler Irrigation Method (continued…)
Special steps have to be taken for preventing entry of silt and
debris, which are very harmful for the sprinkler equipment.
Debris choke the nozzles, interfere with the application of water on
the land, while the abrasive action of silt causes excessive wear on
pump impellers, sprinkler nozzles and bearings.
The system is to be designed in such a way that the entire sprayed
water seeps into the soil, and there is no runoff from the irrigated
area.

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 Center
Pivot
Sprinkler
Irrigation
System

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Conditions Favoring the Adoption of Sprinkler Method
(i) Irregular topography
(ii) Gradient is steeper, and soil is easily erodible.
(iii) Excessively permeable soil
(iv) When the water table is high.
(v) Near the coasts where seasonal water requirement is low
(vi) When the crops:
(a) require humidity control, as in tobacco;
(b) having shallow roots; or
(c) require high and frequent irrigation.
(vii) Water scarcity

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Types of Sprinkler Systems.
A) Conventional Systems;
B) Mobile Systems

Conventionally, sprinkler system can be classified under three

heads, as:
1. Permanent system;
2. Semi-permanent system; and
3. Portable system.

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In permanent system, all components are fixed in field, which are:
1. Electric motor of required hp
2. Pump of required capacity and
head
3. Suction line from the sump
4. Main line
5. Check valves and main gate valves
6. Laterals with risers and sprinklers

In the semi-permanent system, sump, pump and main line are

fixed, laterals with sprinklers are moveable.
In the portable system:
All components are transported from one to another position
There are highest labor requirement and lowest Initial cost
Suitable for low growing corps but Impractical for tall corn or
sugar cane
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 B) Mobile Sprinkler Types
These include:
1. Rain gun Irrigation System
2. Linear Move
3. Center Pivot System

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 Rain gun is a mobile machine with a big sprinkler.
The speed of the machine determines the application rate.
The sprinkler has a powerful jet system.

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 Rain gun Irrigation System

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 Rain gun Irrigation System

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 Rain gun Irrigation System

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 Rain gun Sprinkler Irrigating from Lagoon

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 Lateral Move System is a long mobile boom in which many
sprinklers are attached.
As the machine moves, it collects water from a canal into the
sprinklers connected to the long boom.

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In Centre Pivot system the source of water is stationary e.g. a
bore hole.
The boom with many sprinklers rotates about the water source.

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 Pivot of a Centre Pivot System

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 Centre Pivot

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 Side-Roll Sprinkler Lateral in Peanuts

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 Soil Infiltration Rate vs. Constant Irrigation Application Rate

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 Soil Infiltration Rate vs. Variable Irrigation
Application Rate

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Advantages of Sprinkler Irrigation

(i) Seepage losses, which occur in earthen channels of surface

irrigation methods, are eliminated. Moreover, only optimum quantity
of water is used in this method.

(ii) Land leveling is not required, and thus avoiding removal of top
fertile soil, as happens in other surface irrigation methods.

(iii) No cultivation area is lost for making ditches, that results in

increasing about 16% of the cropped area.

(iv) In sprinkler system, the water is to be applied at a rate lesser than

the infiltration capacity of the soil, and thus avoiding surface run off,
and its bad effects, such as loss of water, washing of topsoil, etc.

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 Advantages of Sprinkler Irrigation (contd.)

(v) Fertilizers can be uniformly applied, because they are mixed

with irrigation water itself.

(vi) This method leaches down salts and prevents water-logging or

salinity.

(vii) It is less labor oriented, and hence useful where labor is costly
and scarce.

(viii) Up to 80% efficiency can be achieved, i.e. upto 80% of

applied water can be stored in the root zone of plants.

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Limitations of Sprinkler Irrigation
(i) Non-uniform spreading of water due to High winds.
(ii) Considerable evaporation losses of water in areas of high
temperature and high wind velocity.
(iii) Not suited to crops requiring frequent/constant and larger
depths of irrigation, such as paddy.
(iv) Requires High Initial Cost of the system and High Technical
Skills.
(v) Only sand and silt free water can be used to avoid damage to
pump impellers.
(vi) Requires larger electrical power.
(vii) Heavy soil with poor intake cannot be irrigated efficiently.
(viii) Constant water supply is needed for commercial use of
equipment.
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Coefficient of Uniformity / Distribution Uniformity /
Christiansen’s Uniformity Coefficient

A measure of how evenly water soaks into the ground across a

field during the irrigation.
Mathematically,
𝑦ത
𝐶𝑈 = 1 − × 100
𝑑ത
Where,
𝑑ҧ = average depth of water stored during irrigation
𝑦ത = average numerical deviation in depth of water stored from
average depth stored during irrigation

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 Coefficient of Uniformity (continued)

Good Distribution Uniformity

Poor Distribution Uniformity

If more water is applied to ensure every plant gets adequate

water, it results into excessive percolation losses.

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Example: The depths of penetration along the length of a border at
points 30 m apart were probed. Their observed values are: 2.0, 1.9,
1.8, 1.6 and 1.5 m. Compute the Coefficient of Uniformity.
Solution:
2.0 + 1.9 + 1.8 + 1.6 + 1.5
𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ = 𝑑ҧ = = 1.76 𝑚
5
Penetration Depths 2 1.9 1.8 1.6 1.5

Deviation from Mean 0.24 0.14 0.04 -0.16 -0.26

Abs. Value of Dev. from Mean 0.24 0.14 0.04 0.16 0.26

0.24 + 0.14 + 0.04 + 0.16 + 0.26

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑏𝑠. 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐷𝑒𝑣. 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 = 𝑦ത =
5
= 0.168 𝑚

𝑦ത 0.168
Finally, 𝐶𝑈 = 1 − × 100 = 1 − × 100 = 90.5%
𝑑ത 1.76

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 Hydroponics / Hydroponic Drip System
 Used in controlled environment agriculture (greenhouses)
 A unique system of operation and management of irrigation
and nutrients.
 Water is applied to a soilless growing media such as coconut
husks, rock wool, sand, and/or perlite.
 These soilless media give growers the ability “steer” the crop
toward desired production characteristics by rapidly varying
nutrient and salinity concentrations in the media.
 The Hydroponics

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 Low-Head Bubbler Irrigation
Bubbler irrigation is a localized, low pressure, solid permanent
installation system used in tree groves.
Each tree has a round or square basin which is flooded with
water during irrigation.
The water is applied through bubblers, the small emitters placed
in the basins which discharge water at flow rates of 100–250
lit/h. Each basin can have one or two bubblers as required.

In these systems, tubing at each plant is cut to a precise length

and installed to a precise elevation in order to provide the design
flow rate to the plant.

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 Low-Head Bubbler Irrigation (continued…)
SYSTEM LAYOUT AND COMPONENTS
It consists of a simple head control unit without filters and
fertilizer apparatus.
The mains and the submains are usually buried rigid PVC pipes,
with hydrants rising on surface. The manifolds and laterals are
also often buried rigid PVC pipes.
The bubblers are placed above ground, supported on a stake,
and connected to the laterals with a small flexible tube rising on
the surface, or they can be fitted on small PVC risers connected
to the buried laterals.

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 Low-Head Bubbler Irrigation (continued…)

Laterls in the bubbler method are usually 50 mm dia. (due to the

lateral high discharge) and need to be underground, whereas in
the other micro-irrigation installations lateral lines are 12–32
mm dia.
Advantages:
 These systems have large openings, so they never plug.
 They have extremely low-pressure requirements, so power
costs are low.
 They require no specialized components such as emitters or
sprinklers so capital costs are low.

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