Innovative Irrigation: Solutions for a More Sustainable Future

There’s no denying that irrigation is a crucial part of ensuring a healthy and vibrant landscape. But one of the most common concerns about irrigation systems and best practices is water overconsumption–whether it be because your system isn’t being properly maintained, or because the technology isn’t as advanced as it could be yet. Luckily, technological advancement has found its way into the irrigation industry, and now there are more options available for sustainable watering. From inventing new systems to corporate businesses making a stronger commitment to sustainability, water is being saved all over the place. This blog is going to break down the current irrigation system trends, the technological advancements that will be implemented in the near future, and how corporate irrigation companies are doing their part in the sustainability department. Current Irrigation Trend: Flood Irrigation
What is Flood Irrigation? Flood irrigation is the most widely used irrigation system in the world right now, mostly because it’s so easy to achieve 100% irrigation with little effort. Its method is simple: repeatedly flood the fields, and they will always have enough water. But as you can imagine, especially because it’s primarily used for the large fields of agriculture, it’s a large waste of water. What the Concerns Are and How to Improve the Method There are two main concerns with flood irrigation: one is the sheer amount of water being used by all these agricultural spaces daily, and the other is that about half of that water is being lost to evaporation–so not even all of that water is being productively used. Luckily, technological advancement has allowed for three new kinds of irrigation, all of which focus on what’s known as precision irrigation: center pivot, pressurized drip, and gravity-powered microirrigation. They’re exactly what they sound like techniques that apply water at the right time, place, and rate. Center Pivot, Pressurized Drip, and Gravity-Powered Micro Irrigation of the Future The best part about investing in more sustainable irrigation systems is that you not only save water, but you also save on other resources: constant repairs and inspections, controller issues, leak detection conundrums, and missing valves. They’re much easier to maintain, and here’s why. Center Pivot Irrigation Center pivot irrigation differs from flood irrigation in two important ways: by using sprinklers and by rotation. They're large, mobile sprinklers that rotate around a pivot. This allows for more uniform water dispersion, automation capabilities, and decreased labor costs–all of which contribute to saving money and water. Pressurized Drip Irrigation Pressurized drip irrigation is another water-saving method, but it has its pros and cons, especially in terms of sustainability. This method disperses water through plastic tubing that applies drops of water directly to the roots of plants. It’s a method whose targeted approach conserves water and improves precision and personability, but it does require lots of energy to filter the water and move it across the field. However, with a little bit of fine-tuning, there are tons of ways to improve energy usage in the near future. Gravity-Powered Micro Irrigation Gravity-powered microirrigation is the newest sustainable model of the three, and it combines components from both flood irrigation and pressurized drip irrigation to do it. It uses the gravity-powered infrastructure of a flood-irrigated field to apply water through drip irrigation tubing. The difference is that it doesn’t use all the pumps and filters of regular drip irrigation. This method saves a ton of water, is price effective, yields better agricultural results, and can be a great transitional method while saving up for the installation of center pivot irrigation. How Irrigation Companies are Improving Their Sustainability Big corporate irrigation companies like RainBird and Hunter are really stepping up. They’re creating actionable goals, tracking their progress, and prioritizing involving themselves in irrigation innovation. Here are some of the things they’re doing:

• Achieving EPA WaterSense certifications for their products
• Educating their employees on health, wellness, and sustainability
• Focusing their efforts on promoting products that work with reclaimed water
• Increasing their resin and electronic recycling efforts
• Reviewing and tracking their goals annually

Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, they’re applying what they’re learning from their own case studies to the improvement of their sustainability practices. This helps them contribute to creating new technologies that will improve irrigation practices even faster. Conclusion Partaking in sustainable irrigation practices directly improves both your landscape and the Earth. It can be difficult to decide which irrigation systems are right for your space while also contributing to water conservation initiatives, but it becomes easier when you know the specifics of the technology. It’s also easier knowing that the leaders in the industry are doing their part, too. Luckily, opting for a more sustainable irrigation system will also save other resources, like time, labor, and money. It’s important to continue improving your space so that your landscape can be as healthy as possible.