On-demand pressurized water distribution system impacts on sprinkler network design and performance

On-farm irrigation networks are designed for optimum performance at a specific upstream pressure head. In pressurized water distribution systems operating on demand, the upstream pressure head of the on-farm network can be subject to high and continuous fluctuations depending on the number of the hydrants being simultaneously opened. In this paper, a methodology combining network design and performance analysis of a sprinkler network is described and applied to an irrigation distribution system operating at two different water demands (1,200 and 600 l s -1) using a case study in Italy. Four designs of the same sprinkler network were optimized at different upstream designing pressure and were evaluated at all the possible operating conditions of the system. The expensive large pipe size diameter design presented the best performance and the highest reliability at a wide range of hydrant pressure while the small pipe size designs have the tendency to fail during the peak water demand period as a result of low hydrant pressure. Flow regulators within the hydrants showed to have an important role in stabilizing the network performance at elevated upstream pressure head.