MODULE 3

3.0 LANDSCAPE IRRIGATION

SYSTEM

TYPES & DESIGN REQUIREMENT

STANDARD &DESIGN GUIDELINES
DETAIL CONSTRUCTION
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Irrigation systems are essential to the successful
maintenance of most landscape development
projects.
To provide supplemental water to the landscape
development in periods of low rainfall.
Conservation of water.
3.2 WHAT CRITERIA OF IRRIGATION
SYSTEM DEPENDS ON?

Climate
The characteristics of the
soil
Knowledge of the plant
materials
The cost of installation
and maintenance

Drip irrigation system being design in

landscape project because of it efficiency
3.3 SOIL CHARACTERISTICS
Soil has 3 properties that need to be taken into
consideration in the design of an irrigation system:
Infiltration rate
Field capacity
Availability of moisture
3.3.1 INFILTRATION RATE
Related directly to :
The particle size and relative proportion of sand,
silt and clay in the soil
The amount of moisture present in the soil
Slope of the surface
3.3.1 INFILTRATION RATE
The infiltration rate of a soil is important in
making decision about how fast water can be
applied to a site.
If the application rate of the irrigation system
exceeds the infiltration rate is the additional water
will be lost as run off.
Application rate

Lost as run off

infiltration
3.3.1 INFILTRATION RATE
Slope:
It is easier for water to move along the surface
rather than down into the soil profile.
Steeper the slope, the lower the infiltration rate.

Maximum infiltration rate for slope & soil types in inches per
hour Volume in inches/hour

Slope Sandy soil Medium soil Heavy soil

0-5% 0.75 0.5 0.25

9-12% 0.55 0.3 0.17

Over 20% 0.25 0.15 0.07

 Reuse clay soils have the lowest
infiltration rates.

Coarse-grained soils (sands)

have the highest infiltration
rates.

Dry soil has have relatively high initial

infiltration rate that will decrease continuity
as the soil approaches saturation
(when the pore space of the soil completely fill with
water)
3.3.2 FIELD CAPACITY
The field capacity of a soil is the amount of
water the soil will hold after gravity has drained
off any excess.
Silts & clay: fine-particle soils
Have greater surface area in proportion to the
volume.
e.g. have higher field capacity-can hold greater
volume, and more water can be applied at one time.
3.3.3 AVAILABILITY OF MOISTURE
The amount of water available to the plant for use
in called available moisture (% of the soils field
capacity).
In most soils only 5-10% of the soil moisture as
actually available for plant use.
3.3.3 AVAILABILITY OF MOISTURE
The available moisture in a critical consideration in
deciding how often to water.

Available moisture for various soil textures in inches.

Soil texture Available moisture in inches per foot of
depth
Sand 0.5-1.0
Sandy loam 1.0-1.5
Silt loam 1.5-2.5
Silt-clay loam 2.0-2.5
Clay 2.5
3.4 CALCULATION OF AVAILABLE
MOISTURE:
-if plant demand 1 in a water per week
-soil had a field capacity 2 inch
-available moisture value of 0.15
-only 0.3inches of water would be available when the soil was at
field capacity (0.152=0.3)

-a wider demand of 0.14 in per day (1/7 + 0.14inch) which means

that the plants will remove the available moisture in a little more
than 2 days. Therefore, it will be necessary to irrigate at least
every third day. (0.143)
3.5 PLANT CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics of plants to consider in an
irrigation system:
Depth of root zone
Evapotranspiration (ET) in peak growing periods
The water requirement for good appearance
3.5.1 DEPTH OF ROOT ZONE
Plant type Root depth

Turf grass 9-18inch (23mm-46mm)

Woody shrub 18-36inch (46mm-915mm)

Small ornamental trees 915mm

Large trees 1220mm

24inch (610mm) is usually satisfactory for most irrigation application

The rooting depth of a plant is important to determine how deep of the

soil profile will have to be watered.
3.5.2 EVAPOTRANSPIRATION (ET) IN
PEAK GROWING PERIODS

Evapotranspiration (ET) rates in inches per day

Plant type Peak evapotransporation rate (warm zone)

Turf grass 0.25

Small shrubs 0.20

Large shrubs 0.25

Small trees 0.30

Large trees 0.35

3.5.3 SURFACE INCHES OF WATER
REQUIRES TO WET THE SOIL TO DESIRED
DEPTH

Depth of wetted profile Surface depth required by soil type

(inches)
Sand Silt Clay

6(152mm) 0.4 0.9 1.3

12(305mm) 0.9 1.8 2.6

18(457mm) 1.3 2.8 4.0

24(610mm) 1.7 3.5 5.1

30(820mm) 2.0 4.2 6.3

36(915mm) 2.4 4.9 7.3

3.6 IRRIGATION EQUIPMENT
An irrigation system is composed of 3 sub-
systems:
Water supply system
Delivery system
Distribution system
3.6.1 WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM
3 types of water supply system employed in
irrigation design:
-reservoirs, lakes, ponds, rivers
-wells
-public water supply
e.g. SAJ, Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN)
3.6.2 DELIVERY SYSTEM

is the network of channels and conducts with the

attachment controls that move to the water from
the supply to the water distribution components
of the irrigation system.
Sprinkler or Drip irrigation systems use a
network of pipe, with remote controlled values to
regulate and direct the flow of water in the
system.
Controllers are programmed to determine when
to water & how long to water.
3.6.3 DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
Composed of:
sprinkler heads (fixed, spray-pattern type head
or rotary head)
drip emitters (apply water at very low rates to the
root zone of plant)
other devices used to distribute irrigation water
to the plant material
3.6.4 DELIVERY SYSTEM
PIPING
1. In-line piping

2. Dual source
3.6.4 DELIVERY SYSTEM
PIPING
3. Loop system
3.7 BASIC IRRIGATION HYDRAULICS
Hydraulic design of an irrigation system depends on:
3.7.1 The delivery of specific volumes of water to the
irrigation heads and emitters at a predetermined operating
pressure.

Sprinkler irrigation system is

designed to emit specific amount
of water
Hydraulic design of an irrigation system depends on:
3.7.2 Pressure is the resistance to flow in an
irrigation system. Flow is generated by gravity, pumping,
air pressure.

Drip irrigation system

Hydraulic design of an irrigation system depends on:
3.7.3 Water velocity in a pressure system is an
important related to the potential energy in the system.

Recommended velocity is 5ft per second:

V=0.40
v=velocity in ft/sec
Q=gallous per minute
D=the diameter of the pipe in inches
3.8 DESIGN AND LAYOUT OF THE
IRRIGATION SYSTEM
3.8.1 STEP 1: Information required in the preliminary
design
Soil properties
-Infiltration rate and the available soil moisture
characteristics of the soil
-Deciding the desirable precipitation rate of the
sprinkler equipment used and the frequency of water
application.
 Planting plan and plant list
-Necessary to determine the peak
evapotranspiration rate that is being for deciding
how much supplemental water the system must be
capable of delivering in 1 week

e.g. for turf area the weekly capacity of the system could be:
0.25 inches/day 7 days/week = 1.75inches/week
 The grading plan:

1. The grading plan (elevation difference) is required.

2. Gravity will cause losses or gains in water
pressure.
3. Slope of the surface will affect the infiltration rate
of the soil.
 Water supply information
-The pressure of the water meter or pump and
the size of the water meter or pump (for operation using
the existing water system)
-For new water supply it can be designed after
the system has been designed and its demands
are known.
 Determine the amount of time it will take to
water the entire project.
-To estimate the amount of time required to apply
any volume of water to a site of a known area:

t)
t =the watering tune required in hours
P =the volume of water to be applied in inches
Q =the maximum volume available from the water supply in (gpm)
A =the area to be irrigated in acres
 Determine the amount of time it will take to
water the entire project.
e.g :
weekly capacity 1.75 inches/week
residential area of acre to be watered from inches water meter
about 20gpm in t?
t=1.75 inches/week ( )
t=19.82hr/week
why?
-this system were operated 3 times each week, each period of operation
would have to be 19.823=6.61hours
3.8.2 STEP 2: To make the preliminary design
decision which:
-maximum design flow from the water supply
e.g. inch (18-75mm)-supply
20-25gpm is recommended
-maximum operating pressure used on the system
e.g. 35 to 45 psi
-irrigation equipment to use
3.8.3 STEP 3: Selecting the irrigation equipment
and the type of system
Consider:
-type of system
-type of project
-part and maintenance
-water quality
-performance
3.8.4 STEP 4: Selecting the irrigation equipment
and the type of system
Selecting the type of system:
-sprinkler irrigation
-drip irrigation

Sprinkler irrigation system cover large Drip irrigation system apply water at
landscape area very low rate to the root zone of plant
 Comparison between Sprinkler & Drip System

SPRINKLER DRIP
Delivery Fast Slow
Rate Gallons/minute Gallons/hour
Problems Run-off No run-off
Evaporation No evaporation
Installation & Expensive Inexpensive
Maintenance Easy to find problems Cant see problems til too
late
Delivery High Pressure Low Pressure
Pressure
Delivery Spray or rotary heads tubing & drip emitters
Mechanism
Delivery Over top of plants To the roots of plants
Location
 3.8.5 Advantages & Disadvantages of Sprinkler and
Drip System
Sprinkler
Advantages design to handle every landscape
situation and can be used on all
type of plant material
can cover large landscape areas
with a very small amount of
equipment and material
closely stimulate natural rain,
keep foliage clean
installation cost is less per sq.
feet than for drip irrigation (less
maintenance)
Disadvantages not water efficient. 50% of water
applied lost to run off or
evaporation
efficient to prevent overspray of
walks, parking areas and building
walls
Exposed to wind, distort the
pattern of coverage
Drip
most water efficient system if relate
properly to the plant
little evaporation lost
no run-off
no overspray
only plants that need water are irrigated
not subjected to wind distortion
cannot be used on turf
higher rate of vandalism and
mechanical damage because small
size of the parts and surface exposure
of the distribution system
cost of installation per sq. feet is higher
than for sprinkler
3.8.6 Step 4: System design
IRRIGATION SYSTEM FOR RESIDENTIAL YARD

Sprinkler

Size Pipes

Point of Sprinkler
Valve
Connection(P.O.C)

P.O.C VALVE SPRINKLER SIZE PIPES

3D VIEW - IRRIGATION SYSTEM FOR RESIDENTIAL YARD