Design And Fabrication Of A Mobile Water Sprinkler Irrigation System

ABSTRACT

Costs of taking a water sprinkler to a remote area are high. Moreover, the use of diesel fuel is also more expensive in the “new lands” due to the remoteness of desert farms or a place wire fire accident occurs. Taking into account the costs of transportation, maintenance and overhauling of generators, using diesel will no longer be economically feasible or affordable for those farms in the near future. At the same time, Nigeria’s exporters lose competitiveness in the international market due to crop losses that were caused by lack of irrigation. High CO2 emissions, immense diesel spills into the soil and risky long distance transportation of diesel to the farms are just a few ecological downsides of diesel operated water pumps. This makes use mobile water sprinkler which allows the sprinkler to be move from one place to another when the need occurs. Movable water sprinkler is defined as a system that distributes water to targeted area.

CHAPTER ONE

• INTRODUCTION

In recent days, agriculture field farmers are facing many problems in watering their plants to keep their crops green in summer season. With hosepipe bans becoming more frequent thanks to global warming (and water companies not fixing the leaks which lose 50% of all treated water in the UK), more and more people are starting to collect rainwater and greywater for use in their gardens. The only problem is getting the water from where it is collected and stored, to where it is needed. It’s because they don’t have correct idea about the availability of the power. Even if the power is available, they have to wait until the pitch is properly watered. Thus this process restricts them to stop doing other deeds. But, there is a solution, i.e., movable water sprinkler allow them to move their sprinkler wherever the need occurs. A submersible pump controller is used to pump a water from a boor well to a storage water tank. Then, the water is drawn by a submersible pump at the slope’s toe, where the installed sprinklers water the crops or plants.

Movable Sprinkler systems are valuable for fire control even in places with electrical equipment, electronic equipment or computational. Water from an activated sprinkler may not help spread the fire, but it will damage the electrical equipment in it’s application area due to short circuit. The water used in most sprinkler systems is commonly untreated tap water, some systems use additives to prevent water freezing or enhance water viscosity but they have no effect over water’s electric conductivity.

1.2                                         BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

Water is a key factor in increasing agricultural production. About 78% of Nigeria’s water resources are used for agriculture out of this only 50% is actually used by plants and the remaining water resources are wasted either as deep percolation or as evaporation. Excess irrigation not only reduces crop production and damages soil fertility but also causes ecological hazards like water logging and salinity. With competitive use of water and its increasing scarcity, it has become imperative to economize water use for optimum productivity. This is possible only through improved water management and adopting advanced techniques of water sprinkler. One such method of modern irrigation is movable sprinkler irrigation system which is becoming more and more popular among the farmers across the country. Sprinkler irrigation system saves upto 50% of water compared to surface irrigation method and increases productivity by about 15-25 %. Until 1970, sprinkler irrigation system in India was used mostly in hilly area for plantation crops like tea and coffee. But thereafter it spread to other country where there was shortage of ground water for irrigation.

Today farmers in almost all the States in the country have progressively adopted this system and it is estimated that about 10 million ha can be brought under sprinkler irrigation system in Nigeria. Realising the need for water use optimization in the context of water scarcity and increasing agricultural productivity.

Movable Sprinkler method distributes water to crops by spraying it over the crop area like a natural rainfall. The water under pressure flows through perforations or nozzles and sprays over the area. The pressure is provided by a pump of suitable capacity and horsepower. With careful selection of nozzle sizes, operating pressure and spacing, the actual water required for maintaining the soil moisture at field capacity is applied uniformly at a rate to suit the infiltration rate of soil thereby obtaining efficient water application. It is estimated that the sprinkler system substantially reduces the use of water and the crop productivity also increases.

1.3                                             OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT

The main objective of a movable sprinkler system is to design a movable device used to apply water as uniformly as possible to fill the root zone of the crop with water.

1.4                                         SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT

Movable water sprinkler is absolutely perfect for use with irrigation systems for gardens, allotments, greenhouses, and polytunnels. It can also be used to apply insecticide, pesticide to the crop. It is the best device to water plants in the summer because it is easy to carry from one place to another.

1.5                                                 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

Water Sprinkler is a method of applying irrigation water which is similar to rainfall. Water is distributed through a system of pipes usually by pumping. It is then sprayed into the air and irrigated entire soil surface through spray heads so that it breaks up into small water drops which fall to the ground.

Sprinklers provide efficient coverage for small to large areas and are suitable for use on all types of properties. It is also adaptable to nearly all irrigable soils since sprinklers are available in a wide range of discharge capacity.

1.6                                              PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT

Movable water sprinkler system is defined as a system that distributes water to targeted area.

Basically it is meant to fabricate a device “movable water sprinkler”, it can be used for agriculture purposes for applying water to the crop or applying insecticide/pesticide/ herbicide to the crop. The system can easily be moved from place to place.