PRELIMINARY DESIGN FACTORS

The preliminary design factors are:-

 The amount of water application per

irrigation.
 Intervals between irrigation.
 Hours per set.
 And required flow per unit area.
 DEPTH OF APPLICATION
for sprinkling or flooding irrigation system
much water may be lost by excessive deep
percolation.

The maximum amount of water to be

applied in each irrigation cycle depends on
the desired depth of wetting, the capacity of
the soil to hold available moisture, the level of
moisture depletion allowed or desired.
If the maximum application amount is expressed as a volume  
to be applied per unit of total land area which is equivalent to
the average depth of application it gives:-

Where:-
 Idx is the maximum net depth of each irrigation application,
mm(in).
 Y is the portion of available moisture depletion allowed or
desired.
 Fc is the volumetric moisture at field capacity, mm/m (in/ft).
 Wp is the volumetric moisture at wilting point, mm/m (in/ft).
 Z is the soil depth to be considered, m (ft).
 P is the area wetted as a percent of to the total area.
 The volume of water applied per irrigation
cycle Vi can be determined by multiplying the
total surface area to be irrigated by the depth
of application per irrigation Id.

 The portion of allowable moisture depletion y

is often taken as 0.3 for drought-sensitive
crops and up to 0.6 for non-sensitive crops.

 Note that (1 ha =10 dunams).

Percentage of wetted area
(p)
 The percentage of wetted area compared to
the whole area p depends on the discharge
and the spacing of emitters or emission
points where multi-exit emitters are used and
soil type.
 A reasonable design objective is to wet a

minimum of one-third (p=33%) of the

potential root volume of widely spaced crops.
 In closely spaced crops, most of the soil
volume may need to be wetted to assure a
sufficient supply of water to each plant.

 When irrigating wide spaced crops p should

not be too large because many of advantages
of trickle irrigation depends on keeping the
strips between rows relatively dry.
The more commen lateral layouts
for orchards:-
1. Single straight lateral
Based on use of one single lateral line for each
crop row with uniformly spaced emitters.
 Table 3.3 is a gide for estimating the average
persentage of course, medium or fine
textured soils.
Problem:-
determine the percentage soil wetted and the
proper lateral line spacing for 4 lph(1gph)
emitters on single laterals along 6 m(19.7 ft) tree
rows planted on a medium-textured soil.

 Emitters discharge is 4 lph.

 The soil texture is medium.
 Spacing between laterals is 6 m.

From table 3.3

Emitters spacing (se)=1m.
So we find that:
Percentage area wetted (P)=20%.
2. Double laterals:
To obtain higher values of p, double laterals
may be used on wide spaced crops.
 To determine the percentage of soil wetted   
for double lateral layout:

Where:
P1 is taken from table 3.3 for S1.
S1 is the narrow spacing between pairs of
laterals which should be taken from table3.3 to
give p=100%, m(ft).
P2 is taken from table 3.3 for S2.
S2 is the wider spacing between laterals which
is equal to(Sr - S1.
Sr is the spacing between tree rows, m(ft).
Problem
determine the persentage of soil wetted and the
proper emitter lateral spacing for a double lateral
system with tree rows spaced at S r =6m and 4 lph
. emitters on a medium textured soil
 
From table 3.3
Se =1m
S1 =1.2m (at p=100%)
S2 = Sr - S1 =6-1.2=4.8 P2 =24%
=39%
3. Multi-exit emitters:
In Using it the emission points can be spaced
to produce the same results obtained by using
double laterals.
On other layout the emission points are
clustered around each tree.
4. Zigzag and pigtail:
In many layouts the emitters or emission points are
clustered around each tree rather than being
uniformly spaced along the lateral.

To maximize the effectiveness of each emitter, the

spacing between emission points should be as wide
as possible with out leaving isolated dry spots and to
achieve this the distance between emission points Sep
should be equal to the value Se recommended for a
given discharge and type of soil.
 P==  
Where:
n is the number of emission points per tree.

S ep is the spacing between emission points, m(ft).

S w is the width of wetted strip which is the Sl value

taken from table 3.3 at p=100%, m(ft).

S t is the spacing between trees in rows, m(ft).

S r is the spacing between tree rows, m(ft).

Problem
determine the persentage of soil wetted and the proper
emission point spacing for multi exit emitters with outlets
discharging 8lph per emission point to trees planted at 6 x
6 m on a medium textured soil.

P==  
 From table 3.3
Se=1.3 m
Sl=1.5 m for p=100%
Se=sep , sw=sl
P=

=33%