Commercial Irrigation Systems

Commercial irrigation is the method of watering plants, crops, and pastures by using water. This water is supplied in several ways, such as sprinklers, canals, pipes, pumps, sprays, and other artificial methods instead of only depending on rainwater. It can also be defined as the technique of an advanced watering system for helping plants grow because it is practised as an alternative to rain-fed farming.

Commercial Irrigation - Reds Landscaping & Design — *Commercial Sprinkler System watering a green lawn.*

Irrigation is the method used to fulfil the water requirements of the plant or crop because water is essential for their growth. Additionally, irrigation water also provides vital nutrients to the plants, which are dissolved in this water, resulting in plants remaining green and producing a maximum and better quality yield.

Commercial irrigation systems are designed for a broader scope. This type of irrigation system is usually used at schools, apartments, complexes, etc. Often, commercial systems irrigate those lawns and landscapes that experience heavy traffic and need more water. The commercial irrigation system is particularly prominent on sports complexes and golf courses.

Commercial Irrigation Sprinklers - Reds Landscaping & Design — *Automatic lawn sprinkler watering green grass. Sprinkler with automatic system. Garden irrigation system watering lawn. Water saving or water conservation from sprinkler system with adjustable head.*

Why is commercial irrigation necessary?

Your lawn is a reflection of your property. It would be attractive, like a green carpet. With the help of irrigation, you can keep your landscape alive throughout the year. Fixing an irrigation system confirms that your lawn is green, attractive, and healthy. A proper irrigation system makes it possible to irrigate your lawn without overwatering or watering concrete footpaths.

Drought Tolerant Landscaping - Osmosis and Transpiration - Reds Landscaping & Design — *Drought Tolerant Landscaping – Osmosis and Transpiration*

Additionally, there are several other advantages to commercial irrigation systems. Due to this, we conserve water and save money in the long run because manual irrigation wastes a tremendous amount of water and increases the water bill. Commercial irrigation systems like the drip irrigation system can prevent weed growth because they water the root systems of flowers, trees, and other plants. With drip irrigation, you can also decrease the number of weeds popping up on your commercial lawn.

Drought Tolerant Landscaping - Irrigation Drip System - Reds Landscaping & Design — Drought tolerant landscaping – Irrigation drip system delivers water to the right place, the root systems of flowers, trees, and plants. With drip irrigation, you can also decrease the number of weeds popping up.

With the help of commercial irrigation systems, we can save time because running a business is time-consuming. If you irrigate your lawn yourself, it will be more time-consuming and a headache for you. The benefit of having a programmed irrigation system is appropriate. It allows you to set the irrigation schedule daily or weekly, depending on the season. Due to irrigation programming, you can only guess how much water your commercial landscape requires.

The five best commercial irrigation systems

The design of the landscape was incomplete without a proper irrigation plan. Because depending on rainwater is impossible, specifically in Australia where the rainfall is insufficient and unreliable. There are a lot of options for commercial irrigation systems, and each has its benefits. In all these systems, which method is better? The answer to this question depends on numerous aspects such as soil, planting, climate, and exposure. Planning your irrigation needs is a critical part of landscape design. These are the five best commercial irrigation systems that can fulfil your lawn’s water requirements and keep it healthy.

Commercial Irrigation System Schematic - Reds Landscaping & Design — *Schematic of a Commercial Irrigation System with both sprinklers and drippers.*

1) Sprinkler Irrigation System

It is the application of water in a spray formed from water flow under pressure through small nozzles and openings. The flexibility of present-day sprinkler equipment and its efficient control of water application make this method more useful for commercial lawns and landscapes, agronomic crops, and vegetable production.

The most common method of sprinkler irrigation is to put water uniformly on the soil surface to replace the water extracted by plants. The pressure is generally obtained by pumping, even though gravity might obtain it if the water source is high enough above the irrigated area.

Advantages of sprinkler irrigation systems

Some of the essential advantages of the sprinkler irrigation system are

It is reasonable and completely set up. You would not have to spend much on labour costs for setting it up.
There is no necessity to use many areas of your field for setting up sprinkler irrigation.
The intervention with cultivation for setting up the sprinkler irrigation is pointedly less. So, you will not face a huge loss.
Frequent applications of water can be provided to the plants. You do not need to do it yourself.
The dispersion will consistently be equivalent.
The amount of water being provided can be controlled, so you will also be able to save water subjected to the necessity and requirement of plants.
Sprinkler irrigation is appropriate for setting up in all types of soil.
This system can be used for different purposes, as well as cooling during high temperatures.

Sprinkler Irrigation System - Reds Landscaping & Design — *Smart garden automatic sprinkler irrigation system working early in the morning in green park – watering lawn and colourful tulips narcissus.*

Disadvantages of sprinkler irrigation systems

The following are the disadvantages of sprinkler irrigation systems:

The investment cost required for buying the apparatus for the sprinkler irrigation system is high.
When spraying water droplets uniformly, there is a requirement for a constant water supply.
A nonstop power supply is essential for operating sprinkler irrigation systems.
The chance of evaporation is greatest if the environment is windy.
Due to the presence of debris and other deposits in the nozzles, they can get clogged.

2) Drip Irrigation System

In this irrigation system, a network of pipes is laid in the area you want to irrigate. The tubes have emitters or holes at intervals that help deliver water to the roots of the plants. Drip irrigation is best for gardens and commercial lawns. It can also be used in high-value crops, including vineyards and orchards.

The pipes for drip irrigation can be buried or placed above ground. Because it uses 30 to 50 percent less water than other irrigation systems, drip irrigation is popular. The water drips gradually and only reaches the plant roots.

Drip Irrigation System - Reds Landscaping & Design — *Drip Irrigation System for flowers.*

Advantages of a drip irrigation system

The following are some advantages of a drip irrigation system:

Water is used as efficiently as possible in this irrigation system.
Leaching is decreased as a result of local application of water, and nutrient leaching is also decreased.
Water will be unavailable for weeds, so their growth is limited because they cannot absorb moisture.
The yield of the crop will be maximum because of maximum water and nutrient use efficiency.
It also prevents the erosion of soil.
The energy cost is minimal as it is operated at a lower pressure than other irrigation systems.
In uneven terrain, the drip irrigation method can provide balanced irrigation.

Disadvantages of drip irrigation systems

Following are some demerits of drip irrigation systems:

It may be expensive.
It needs extraordinary practical knowledge for a successful operation.
In heavy soils, it causes difficulties with movement and water blockages.
Plants can obtain essential nutrients in a small space.
Maximum attention has to be paid to holes in drippers since the soil may come along with water at any time, which will prevent water from dripping smoothly from holes.

3) Surface Irrigation System

In a surface irrigation system, water is applied and distributed over the soil surface by gravity. It is the most common form of irrigation throughout the world and has been practised in many areas virtually unchanged for thousands of years. In this type of irrigation, water is supplied to the top end of the lawn, and it will flow or advance above the field size. After the water spreads to the end of the field, it will run off or start towards the pond. Surface irrigation is also known as flood irrigation. Surface irrigation comes in three major types, such as level basin, furrow, and border strip.

Furrow Surface Irrigation - Reds Landscaping & Design — *Surface Irrigation using the furrow method on a field of corn.*

Basin irrigation: irrigation of land by surrounding it with barriers to form a basin and flooding it with water.

Furrow irrigation is a method of laying out the water channels in such a way that gravity provides just enough water for suitable plants.

Border strip irrigation is a type of surface irrigation where the field is divided into strips separated by border ridges, and the area between the ridges is flooded during irrigation.

Advantages of a surface irrigation system

Following are the advantages of a surface irrigation system:

The management of surface irrigation systems is relatively easy, and you do not need any recent machinery. If you have limited traditional information, you can do it.
You do not need the proper economic support. You can be advantageous with small lands too.
If you have short-term water supplies, then this is the best process for you.
You need longer tubes if the drainage system is far from you.
The surface irrigation system is nature friendly. Due to surface irrigation, you can also use rainwater.
The surface irrigation system can also work efficiently at the minimum rate of filtration.
You can use this type of irrigation process on sloping lands and long commercial landscapes.
Gravity provides the necessary energy for surface irrigation systems. It is a significant advantage in today’s economy to use negligible energy.

Disadvantages of surface irrigation

The following are the disadvantages of surface irrigation:

Level lands require high accuracy, and you cannot use them there.
not appropriate for soil with a great rate of filtration.
Plants are continuously enclosed with water, even when they do not need it.
Sometimes a limited space gets more water than required.
No drainage outlet

4) Centre Pivot Irrigation System

A centre pivot irrigation system refers to a mechanical irrigation system that can help irrigate crops by maintaining a circular pattern around a centre pivot. It essentially consists of a long radial pipe that is supported by sprinkler towers. These towers pivot around the centre of the whole mechanism. The tubes consist of equally spaced nozzles to supply water to the surroundings. As the lines rotate, the water is uniformly released from the nozzles.

The centre-pivot irrigation system is the most popular globally because of its high efficiency, high uniformity, ability to irrigate uneven terrain, and low capital, maintenance, and management costs.

Centre Pivot Irrigation - Reds Landscaping & Design — *Centre Pivot Irrigation System in a green Field of lush lawn.*

Advantages of a centre pivot irrigation system

The pivot irrigation system has many advantages, including

To meet crop water needs, the system can apply the prescribed amount of water. It lessens the likelihood of deep percolation or surface runoff.
It has been reported that the efficiency of the new design machine is 80-95% compared to 50-90% for the surface irrigation system.
The requirement for labourers is generally low as compared to the surface irrigation system.
Herbicides and pesticides can also be applied using this irrigation system.
It may operate at a lower pressure, thus conserving energy.
No need to level the land means significant financial and environmental savings.

Disadvantages of the centre pivot irrigation system

There is no perfect irrigation system. Every type has advantages and disadvantages. The negatives associated with the centre pivot include the following:

high initial cost
high maintenance costs
The field surface should be flat.
Not suitable for irrigation in windy conditions. Uneven water application may occur, and applied fertilisers may be carried away.

5) Subsurface Commercial Irrigation Systems

In this irrigation system, water is applied beneath the land’s surface through a network of buried perforated or open jointed pipes. As water is passed under pressure in these pipes, it comes through open joints. The depth of the pipes should not be less than 40 cm so that these do not cause any interference with the cultivation. The water used in this type of irrigation should be of good quality, so the perforations do not get clogged. The subsurface irrigation system is growing in importance today. It provides numerous opportunities for large-scale and small growers alike.

Subsurface Drip Irrigation - Reds Landscaping & Design — *Soaker hoses installed in trenches for water irrigation to a garden flower bed.*

Advantages of subsurface commercial irrigation systems

Some advantages of subsurface irrigation systems include

There is an immediate reduction in cost simply because there is no need for a worker to water plants since the subsurface irrigates the field automatically.
It costs less to water plants more fully. In the process, less water is lost, and there is no runoff or evaporation.
Excellent performance in the windy and arid location
Plants grown in these conditions may grow more uniformly. The water is evenly distributed across all plants, improving the overall growth level.
Frequent irrigation allows for optimum soil moisture content in the root zone.

Disadvantages of subsurface commercial irrigation systems

Some disadvantages of the subsurface irrigation system are given below.

Driving vehicles over a subsurface irrigation system will likely damage the piping.
Bacterial slime and algae growing on the interior walls of the laterals and emitters, combined with clay particles in the water, can block the emitters.
A lot of repair work is caused by rodents chewing the tubes.
Storage facilities for effluent must exist for extended periods when the ground for subsurface irrigation systems is wet or frozen.

Reds Landscaping and Design offers comprehensive irrigation plan design services to meet the needs of any project, big or small. With over 25 years of experience, our team of certified irrigation designers will work closely with you to create a customised plan that meets your specific goals.

Whether you’re looking to install a new system or upgrade an existing one, we have the experience and expertise to get the job done right. We use the latest technology and software to create highly efficient and effective irrigation plans that will save you time and money. Contact us today to learn more about our irrigation plan design services.