Development of a Smart Water Distribution System (WDS) for Irrigation

With the advancement of computation and sensor technology, new strategies and tactics are being employed in the development of state-of-art operations tools in energy and water resources management. As agriculture is one of the sectors that consumes significant amount of energy and water, these cutting edge tools are particularly important for their management. While one strategy to save energy cost may come from the optimum pump operation considering peak and off-peak hours, the real energy reduction can result from monitoring the water conveyance system regularly and delivering the true water demand at optimum pressure requirement. Similarly, water consumption can be reduced by calculating the true water demand, using correct irrigation method, application time and frequency, and monitoring the conveyance system. This study proposes a framework to reduce energy and water usage in irrigation water distribution system (WDS) by quantifying correct crop water demands through utilization of soil moisture information, weather data, and hydraulics information including flow and pressure throughout the system. Results show that about 13 to 24% water savings is possible when feedback from soil moisture sensor is considered. Similarly, additional 10% water savings is possible if field capacity is considered to be the upper limit for irrigation which will save about 6% of pumping energy consumption.