The anatomy of change

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The Irrigation Association awarded the 2011 Man of the Year award to Howard Wuertz of Sundance Farms in Arizona. Sundance Farms are irrigated by conventional subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) technology. In his acceptance speech, Wuertz stated that SDI was far more efficient in terms of water and energy use than any other technology, was reliable and that he fully expects any system he installs to last 25 years. Wuertz concluded that these factors make SDI the most cost effective way to irrigate.

Through hard work and perseverance, pioneers like Wuertz have solved many of the shortcomings of early experiments with SDI.

Over the past 30 years, there have been very significant improvements in drip irrigation hardware, the practices by which it is usually installed both in agriculture and turf and landscape, and in the understanding of how to maintain and manage the systems.

Technology updates. Emitter design has greatly improved from the perspective of consistent output, resistance to clogging and consistency of the product. Pre-embedded emitter tubing is the advancement that enabled the ability to establish a grid of emitters over a given area, leading to much higher uniformities of application than had been possible before.

A new class of irrigation hardware entering the market is even more reliable, more efficient and cost effective to install and manage. SDI technology developed in Australia, and deployed around the world in a variety of rugged environments, is setting the standard for reliable ultra-efficient systems.

These products incorporate geo-textiles within a configuration that accelerates the principle of capillary action already at work in the soil, while suppressing the negative properties of a bare textile.

The result is a highly consistent wetting of the soil in the root zone, without flooding or waste building in the spray hardware.

Installation practices have evolved to include use of supply and collection manifolds, creating a looped system essential to a successful SDI system. Installation of flush valves and air relief valves are necessary and help ensure the long-term viability of the system Installation of in-line pressure gauges before and after filters, and the provision for easy reading of operating pressure at the collection manifold of systems, are inexpensive and easy ways and means for system management. The new class of hardware can also be installed at deeper depths than conventional SDI, protecting the product from accidental breakage.
 

What it means. What the reliability and efficiency of these new products mean to irrigation contractors is the ability to sustain landscapes that customers demand, using much less water than previously possible.

The availability of potable water to irrigate landscapes is on the decline. Like it or not, contractors need to embrace the new technology and learn the simple steps required to make it work for them, as opposed to struggling to meet water use mandates with wasteful spray irrigation hardware.

Of interest to installation contractors is the configuration of this new class of subsurface hardware enables significantly greater spacing between the rows of the “grid.” This means a faster installation than conventional SDI.

Fewer rows mean less labor is required for installation. Wider spacing means it is easier to plant around than conventional SDI.

This next generation product is a boon for contractors because it is likely to be a more profitable installation when compared to conventional SDI hardware.

Since there are no moving parts exposed to the elements, accidents or vandals, for maintenance contractors, there is less to repair and adjust than conventional spray hardware.

With ongoing inspection and confirmation of the basic hydraulics of the system – gallons per minute per zone, and operating pressure at the valve and at the end of the system – maintenance contractors can spend more time on horticulture and less time dealing with the consequences of broken hardware, overspray and runoff.

Other significant benefits include the potential to use a fertigation system to reduce the labor required to apply fertilizer and use of that same system to apply organic vertebrate control products.

The evolution of subsurface products is rooted in science and leverages principals at work in nature.

Contractors across the country are discovering that with the new hardware, and reorienting their approach to monitoring and managing these systems, they are leading the change required for more efficient and ecological irrigation system installation and management.
 

The author is the national accounts director at Irrigation Water Technologies America and owns Irrigation Essentials. He can be reached at jossa@giemedia.com.