Methodology to improve water and energy use by proper irrigationscheduling in pressurised networks

Abstract

With the aim of reducing energy consumption and improving water use in pressurised irrigation systems, the methodology to minimise energy consumption by grouping intakes of pressurised irrigation networks into sectors, as developed by Jimenez Bello et al. (2010a), was modified to enable irrigation intakes to operate during the scheduled period for each intake instead of operating during restricted irrigation periods of the same length. Moreover, a method was developed to detect the maximum number of intakes that can operate without extra energy if the source has sufficient head to feed at least some of the intakes. These methods were applied to a Mediterranean irrigation system, where the total cropped area was mainly citrus orchards. In this case study, water was allocated to two groups of intakes, one fed by gravity and the other by pumps. A saving of 36.3 % was achieved by increasing the total volume supplied by gravity, decreasing the injection pump head, and improving the pump performance. Therefore, all the intakes only operated during the irrigation periods at the minimum required pressure.