Farmers have been using irrigation technology for years. However, people often forget that the earliest civilizations used irrigation technology to strengthen their farming practices.
Naturally, there are more technologically-advanced ways of utilizing irrigation technology today, like the use of machinery, including irrigation pumps. Read more to know what they are and how they are advantageous.
What is an Irrigation Pump?
An irrigation pump is used to pump water from a lower ground level to a higher area. The pump pushes the water through a channel to spray water into the fields.
To reach different distances in the fields, farmers need high pressure to pump the water. An irrigation pump pushes the water using high pressure to flow through the irrigation system easily.
How to Choose the Right Irrigation Pump
There are four ideal factors that you should consider in choosing an irrigation pump.
- Operating Pressure. When using various equipment, you would also need to use varying water pressures. Get an irrigation pump that suits your irrigation plan the best
- System Flow. After making an irrigation plan, determine the maximum flow requirement. The irrigation pump will help in choosing the irrigation pump that you need.
- Friction Losses. Friction losses will help you determine how much the pump should generate.
- Make sure that you purchase an irrigation pump that fits your budget, depending on the irrigation plan.
How Advantageous is it to Use an Irrigation Pump?
An irrigation pump is beneficial in a lot of ways. First, the pump’s technology is so advanced that it takes a big load compared to using old irrigation methods.
- It Affords Your Irrigation System Flexibility. The field is divided into different zones when using an agricultural irrigation system. The zones may depend on crop type, field size, and even crop maturation date.
Zoning would prompt you to use different flow rates, especially with several irregularly-shaped or smaller fields.
Before the existence of the irrigation pump, farmers used to pump the worst zone and adjust the valves accordingly. As a result, the water flow wasn’t always the best, and it caused heavy damage to the irrigation systems.
An irrigation pump helps the water run at a lower pressure. In addition, you can customize your irrigation systems by adjusting the pump’s rotation speed.
Lower pressure will help distribute the water in smaller fields at optimal pressure. The ideal water pressure will lead to more water conservation during the growing season.
- It Helps Conserve Water. Irrigation pumps are also useful in conserving resources. They help save water by powering irrigation sprinklers at an ideal pressure.
Irrigation systems with too much pressure tend to mist or fog. The mist is due to the high temperature, creating smaller droplets using the sprinklers’ nozzles.
Smaller water droplets will easily evaporate in the heat and be carried by the wind. Because of this, smaller droplets are not optimal for watering as they will not reach the ground.
Water not reaching the ground will prompt you to use more water, thus leading to wastage.
- It Works as Several Pumps in One. Before, irrigation systems used a pressure maintenance pump and several other main pumps. This system required the manual control of the pumps depending on the desired flow rate.
With the help of an irrigation pump, you don’t need a complex pump station control system. Instead, it does the job of pressure maintenance and controlling the flow rates through the irrigation channels.
An irrigation pump can also do additional tasks like delivering higher pressure and flows whenever you need it.
An irrigation pump is helpful with your farming needs. No matter how big or small your fields are, an irrigation pump improves the system by heaps and takes a big burden off your shoulders.
