IRRIGATION – WATER MANAGEMENT, POLLUTION AND ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES Edited by Iker García-Garizábal and Raphael Abrahao Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies Edited by Iker García-Garizábal and Raphael Abrahao Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2012 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. As for readers, this license allows users to download, copy and build upon published chapters even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Dejan Grgur Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team First published March, 2012 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechopen.com Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies, Edited by Iker García-Garizábal and Raphael Abrahao p. cm. ISBN 978-953-51-0421-6 Contents Preface IX Chapter 1 Comparing Water Performance by Two Different Surface Irrigation Methods 1 Francisco Mojarro Dávila, Carlos Francisco Bautista Capetillo, José Gumaro Ortiz Valdez and Ernesto Vázquez Fernández Chapter 2 Watershed Monitoring for the Assessment of Irrigation Water Use and Irrigation Contamination 21 Iker García-Garizábal, Raphael Abrahao and Jesús Causapé Chapter 3 Pumice for Efficient Water Use in Greenhouse Tomato Production 39 Miguel Angel Segura-Castruita, Luime Martínez-Corral, Pablo Yescas-Coronado, Jorge A. Orozco-Vidal and Enrique Martínez-Rubín de Celis Chapter 4 Cyclic Irrigation for Reducing Nutrients and Suspended Solids Loadings from Paddy Fields in Japan 57 Takehide Hama Chapter 5 Urbanization, Water Quality Degradation and Irrigation for Agriculture in Nhue River Basin of Vietnam 83 Mai Van Trinh and Do Thanh Dinh Chapter 6 Recycling Vertical-Flow Biofilter: A Treatment System for Agricultural Subsurface Tile Water 99 K.H. Baker and S.E. Clark Chapter 7 Water Regime Affecting the Soil and Plant Nitrogen Availability 109 Adrijana Filipović Chapter 8 The Response of Ornamental Plants to Saline Irrigation Water 131 Carla Cassaniti, Daniela Romano and Timothy J. Flowers VI Contents Chapter 9 Greywater Use in Irrigation: Characteristics, Advantages and Concerns 159 Cristina Matos, Ana Sampaio and Isabel Bentes Chapter 10 Risks for Human Health of Using Wastewater for Turf Grass Irrigation 185 Pilar Mañas, Elena Castro and Jorge de las Heras Chapter 11 Marginal Waters for Agriculture – Characteristics and Suitability Analysis of Treated Paper Mill Effluent 209 P. Nila Rekha and N.K. Ambujam Chapter 12 Occurrence and Survival of Pathogenic Microorganisms in Irrigation Water 221 Nohelia Castro-del Campo, Célida Martínez-Rodríguez and Cristóbal Chaidez Preface It is widely accepted that irrigation allows for the increase and stability in agrarian yields, being a necessary tool to support food supplies and necessities for certain raw materials in the world. However, irrigated agriculture is also considered the most significant fresh water consumer and one of the main causes of pollution, degradation and depletion of natural resources. These impacts are primarily related to changes in the water cycle, salinization of agricultural soils, and salinization and pollution of water resources due to the use of agrochemicals. The future of irrigated agriculture should be focused on a better use of water resources and on the minimization of generated pollutants, through the implementation of new management strategies, reduction and reuse of inputs, and development of new technologies. In this collection of 12 chapters, we present the panorama of some of the main issues related to irrigated agriculture. This book can be divided into three parts: the first one deals with irrigation management and the first chapter presents a comparison of water use efficiency and productivity in two different furrow irrigation systems. Chapter two compares water management and contamination generated in two different irrigated systems - a flood irrigated land versus a pressurized irrigated land. The third chapter evaluates the behavior of sandy-pumice as an improver of the moisture holding capacity of the soil. The second part of the book comprehends five chapters and examines the impact of agricultural activity on rivers and downstream areas. Chapter 4 evaluates the ability of cyclic irrigation to reduce the net exports of nutrients and suspended solids in paddy fields. Chapter 5 studies the irrigation capacity of a river for crop production and the subsequent degradation of water quality and soils. The sixth chapter reports on the potential use of bio-filters for the removal of excess nutrients from drainage water. Chapter 7 explains the problematic of N fertilization and evaluates measurement methods to establish adequate fertilization rates on potato crops. The last chapter of this group, chapter 8, reviews water salinity problems and salt tolerance of ornamental plants, a historically forgotten issue in salinity studies. The third part comprises four chapters and examines the effect of water reuse on irrigation. In this way, chapter 9 presents a general perspective on water reuse, the X Preface advantages and disadvantages of greywater use in irrigation and also provides a case study on the required quantity and quality of greywater for its reuse in irrigation. Chapter 10 studies the applicability of treated wastewater for turf grass and assesses the effects of the continuous use of treated water on the soil and crop (besides the risk for human health). Chapter 11 studies the water quality and suitability of tertiary- treated paper mill effluents for irrigation. The final chapter of this book deals with the incidence of some pathogenic microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp and Listeria spp) in irrigation water and the survival time of these microorganisms when exposed to different physicochemical parameters. This book presents an interesting approach to main irrigation techniques used in irrigated agriculture, an introduction to pollution and possibilities of its minimization in irrigated lands, and the potential reuse of different types of waters. We hope these studies will provide a basis for future research and knowledge, applied towards changes in agricultural management and new perspectives for improving water quality and increasing the productivity of water resources used in agricultural activities. Finally, our thanks are given to the authors involved for their considerable contribution to this book. Dr Iker García-Garizábal, Department of Earth Science, University of Zaragoza, Spanish Geological Survey, Spain Dr Raphael Abrahao, MIRARCO–Mining Innovation, Laurentian University, Canada [...]... efficiency and irrigation water use efficiency and productivity The irrigation efficiency is clearly influenced by two factors: 1) the amount of water used by the crop for water applied in irrigation, and 2) distributions in the field of applied water 8 Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies These factors affect the cost efficiency of irrigation, irrigation design, and most... Posterior, Doctoral Dissertation, DEPFI, UNAM Walker, W R & Skogerboe, G V (1987) Surface Irrigation Theory and Practice, Prentice-Hall, ISBN 0-13-877929-5, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA 20 Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies Walker, W R (1989) Guidelines for Designing and Evaluating Surface Irrigation Systems, ISBN 92-5-102879-6 Irrigation and Drainage Paper 45, Food and Agriculture... thickness of up to 5.5 meters in the flood -irrigation watershed and of up to 10 meters in the pressurizedirrigation watershed The thicknesses decreased progressively from the topographically higher zones until the lower part of the watershed, where it almost disappeared and the impermeable substratum surfaced 24 Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies Regarding the hydraulic characteristics... in diameter was used for water application This irrigation system is very common among irrigation farmers in the study area, Figure 4 shows the characteristics of the experimental plot and for the irrigation management was as follows: Water flow direction Fig 4 Topographical diagram for experimental plot Contour lines 6 Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies 1) there was... time, water begins to flows in the field –border, basin or furrow b) Time of advance, water completely covers the basin or border, or water reaches the downstream end of a furrow c) Time of cut off, water stops flowing into the irrigated field d) Time of depletion, 2 Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies when a part of the basin, border or furrow becomes uncovered by water. .. between 4 and 18%, and a higher water holding capacity, and classified as Typic Xerofluvent (Soil Survey Staff, 1992) 2.5 Agronomy: Irrigation and fertilization Irrigation is the main component differentiating the two watersheds (Figure 3) Therefore, although both watersheds present on-demand irrigation, in which the farmers chose the time and amount of water to be applied (maximum annual water allowances... increased by 16%, and the irrigation time is reduced by 23 min per irrigation Therefore there is an evidence to encourage the IDI irrigation method Water use efficiency, irrigation water use efficiency, and distribution uniformity are the performance irrigation parameters that seem to be correlated with furrow irrigation variables (water table, inflow discharge, volume applied and time of irrigation) it... of the Bardenas Irrigation District and the irrigated watersheds, object of this study Watershed Monitoring for the Assessment of Irrigation Water Use and Irrigation Contamination 23 The irrigation ditch network surrounding the flood-irrigated watershed constitutes the superficial water divide, delimiting a 95 ha hydrological watershed of which 96% corresponds to soils destined to irrigation The remaining... example, the natural salinity of the area in which irrigation is implemented can contribute significantly to the 22 Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies export of salts from the irrigated area, affecting water resources downstream (Christen et al., 2001; Tanji and Kielen, 2002) Strong rain events, on the other side, cause lateral and vertical mobility of the exported masses... (RICIG) represents the physical phenomenon of surface irrigation in blocked-end furrows 4.1 Applied irrigations The data obtained from tests carried out, furrow geometry, and data from Table 2 presowing irrigation was simulated and applied in the field 10 Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies Furrow number 250 Q (l s-1 ) 1 2 1.38 6 1.54 7 0.95 8 0.90 9 Time (min) 1.42 5 100 . IRRIGATION – WATER MANAGEMENT, POLLUTION AND ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES Edited by Iker García-Garizábal and Raphael Abrahao Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and. irrigation, and 2) distributions in the field of applied water. Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies 8 These factors affect the cost efficiency of irrigation, irrigation. Time of depletion, Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies 2 when a part of the basin, border or furrow becomes uncovered by water once the water has fully infiltrated