IRRIGATION SYSTEM DESIGN

PHILOSOPHY

Project: Irrigation system design for Sharjah, the

Bee’Haa
Client: The Bee’Haa, Sharjah

Landscape Consultant Aperture Design Studio

Irrigation Consultant: Evergreen Adcon Consult

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1. Introduction

2. Project location

3. Irrigation Design Concept & Parameters

4. Irrigation System Operational Philosophy

5. Irrigation Water Quality Parameters

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Introduction:
Properly designed, installed, maintained and managed irrigation systems greatly reduce
the volume of irrigation water that is wasted every year. In some water short areas, we
have seen the beginnings of planned water conservation efforts. In time, these could
become the basis for a coordinated national policy toward water conservation. It is our
goal to present the material as simply as possible while explaining some theory behind
the process. Understanding the basic hydraulics material in the first section of the
manual is very important. In this write up, we will try to establish the factor for an
efficient irrigation design. This report delineates the standard methods of irrigation
based on multiple factors i.e. climate, water source availability, soil type, crop type etc.

Every year we undertake several projects ranging from Landscape Irrigation to Golf
Irrigation & Farm Irrigation. It is our primary concern to design an efficient irrigation
system. We recommend the best practices to be carried out to control water uses &
additional men power for running the system.

Thanks,

Bhupendra Sharma
Manager & Partner
+971552835476(UAE),+919571601491(India)
For EvergreenAdcon
URL: http://consultancy.evergreenadcon.com
Mail: consultancy@evergreenadcon.com

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 2. Project location

The project is located in Sharjah, (UAE). The project will have different type of
landscape plants e.g. ground cover, shrubs and Date Palm. The project is surrounded
by vast desert of Sharjah and mostly around the year, there are dusty winds from West
to East and East to West.

The sea is nearly 25 kms away from the project location. There is one side is Sea & the
other side is Desert. This creates a forced hot air blow and causes more losses from
the ground surface in the atmosphere.

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3. Irrigation Design Concept & Parameters

There are several factors which decide the irrigation water requirement in particular
specific regions.
First the irrigation water requirements are to be determined. These are the factors
Evapotranspiration:
The plant water requirement includes the water lost by evaporation into the
atmosphere from the soil and soil surface, and by transpiration, which is the amount
of water used by the plant. The combination of these is evapotranspiration (ET)

The project is in HOT DRY geographical location.

Soil type
Soil absorbs and holds water in much the same way as a sponge. A given texture and
volume of soil will hold a given amount of moisture. The intake rate of the soil will
influence the precipitation rate and type of water emitting device that can be utilized.
The ability of soil to hold moisture, and the amount of moisture it can hold, will greatly
affect the irrigation operational schedule.

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The above mentioned factors determine the water requirement/ day- tree.
In the UAE where average temperature remains at 40 degree, the daily watering is a
must activity.
The per day water requirement is considered as 120 Lit/ day for date palm.
The climate is arid with very high summer temperatures. The coastal area, where the
bulk of the population lives, has a hot and humid climate in the summer with
temperatures and relative humidity reaching 46° C and 100 percent respectively.
Winters are generally mild with temperatures between 14 °C and 23 °C. The interior
desert region has hot summers with temperatures rising to about 50 °C and cool
winters during which the lowest temperature can fall to around 4 °C. Mean annual
rainfall is about 78 mm, ranging from less than 40 mm around Sharjah in the southern
desert to 160 mm in the northeastern mountains. Precipitations cover a period of
between 9 and 19 days over the whole year. Over 80 percent of the annual rainfall
occurs during the winter (December to March). In spring (April–May) rainfall is
infrequent and is usually associated with isolated thunderstorms. In summer (June–
September), rain is rare and occurs as a result of the afternoon thunderstorm over the
eastern highlands or isolated thunderstorms accompanying the rarely occurring sea
breeze fronts.

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4. Irrigation System Operational Philosophy

For each and every Irrigation system, the performance parameters need to be
established and the customized design should achieve the established parameters to
achieve the result.
So the parameters will be as followings-
4.1 Irrigation Type & Operation
4.2 Irrigation Watering For Plants
4.3 Water Application Method - Trickle Irrigation
4.4 Design Of Irrigation Network (Loop Or Dead End)
4.5 Flow Control At Various Stage To Control Watering (Manual Or Semi-Automatic
Or Fully Automatic)
4.6 Water Quality Control Through Filtration (To Prevent The Damage)
4.7 Fertigation (Manual/ Automatic)
4.8 Quick Coupling Valve

4.1 Irrigation Type & Operation:

The proposed irrigation system for the above project is pressurized irrigation system.
The method of delivering water to the plants will be sub-surface irrigation. The sub-
surface irrigation methods gives flexibility to control the water evaporation during the
irrigation type and the other advantage is that it will be free of maintenance damage i.e.
cutting of drip tubes while plants maintenance practices.
The major components of the system will be as irrigation pump unit, satellite irrigation
controller connected to irrigation central control, weather station, master valves,
solenoid valves, and irrigation sub-surface drip tubes.
The irrigation system as a whole shall comprise of:
 An underground pipe network of uPVC mains and sub mains and polyethylene
tubing, with solenoid control valves for the operation of the irrigation system.
 Connection of irrigation network to the irrigation mainline, distribution system of
sprinklers, sprayers and drip emitters with all necessary fittings and accessories.

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 An electrical control for the irrigation operation, consisting of sequencing
controllers, low voltage cable and all other necessary accessories.
 All works which may be incidental, contingent or necessary for the proper
completion of works, but which are not specifically described herein are also
considered to be included.

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4.2 Irrigation Watering For Plants:
The watering requirement for the plants will be as following but it will be adjusted and
controlled in real time w.r.t. climate through weather station:

Water Requirement, Lit/ Water Requirement, Lit/

Plant Type Planting Area, m2
Day/m2 Day
Shrubs 3500 20 70000
Ground Cover 3500 16 56000
LIT/DAY-(A) 126000
Water Requirement, Lit/ Water Requirement, Lit/
Plant Type Nos
Day/plant Day
Palm 15 110 1650
Tree 54 80 4320
LIT/DAY-(B) 5970
Total Water Requirement, Litres per day (C)= (A)+(B) 131970
M3/Day 131.97

4.3 Water Application Method - Trickle Irrigation

Trickle Irrigation- sub surface

4.4 Design of Irrigation Network (Loop Or Dead End)

Loop mainline

4.5 Flow Control at Various Stage To Control Watering (Manual Or Semi-

Automatic Or Fully Automatic)

Semi-Automatic

4.6 Water Quality Control Through Filtration

Primary filtration will be sand filter as to prevent secondary filter with clogging due to
sludge and increase system efficiency, secondary filtration will be fully Automatic self-
cleaning screen filter (up to 74 micron).

4.7 Fertigation (Manual/ Automatic)

No fertigation unit

4.8 Quick Coupling Valve

At every 50 m distance 1” Brass QCV

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IRRIGATION SYSTEM SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

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5. Irrigation Water Quality Parameters

The quality of water is an important factor in the growth of any vegetation. In this specific
project, if there is availability of TSE water then it doesn’t require further hardness tests only the
required test is microbial test of water and Nitrogen level in water.
The given range of parameters must be read as a guideline for water quality.

SNo Parameters Recommendation Recommended Range

1. Total dissolved solids 1500 / 1000 (drip/ spray) mg/lit

2. Sulphate as S03 200 mg/lit

3. Chloride 350 mg/lit

4. PH 6 to 8

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