Sachpazis Costas: Geotechnical Engineering: A student's Perspective Introduction
Bamboo drip irrigation pipes design
1. Author; Masawe, Elifaraja E
B.Sc. Agricutural Engineering
SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
emasawe@hotmail.com
+255 714 048536
2. Drip irrigation is one of the methods of
irrigation that saves water and fertilizer. In
drip irrigation method, water drips slowly to
the roots of the plants either onto
the soil surface or directly onto the root
zone through a network
of valves, pipes, tubing and emitters. The
process is completed in narrow tubes so that
water is given directly to the root of the plant.
Drip irrigation is also termed as localized
irrigation or micro irrigation.
Author; Masawe, Elifaraja E 2
3. Bamboo is the type of tree plants that develop a
hole in the middle of the stem and they are
always tall in terms of height.
In the past before the invention of modern water
pipes people have been using bamboo stems to
convey water from the source to the considerable
distance where people would easily fetch it up
Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on
earth with reported rate of 250cm in 24hours
therefore they are easily available and hence of
low cost
Author; Masawe, Elifaraja E 3
6. Bamboo stems do not have continuous hole at the center
as it stops every after some distance
Therefore blockages developed I between needs to be
unblocked in the following ways;
Prepare bamboo stems to be used for piping , they should of
considerably of the similar diameters
Remove leaves and emerged branches from the stem
Prepare long , strong and straight iron rod
Heat the iron rod at one end until it turns red
Use the hot iron rod to penetrate through the bamboo stem to unlock
the blocked part by burning them internally
Repeat the process until you find the free movement of iron rod within
the stem as it forms continuous hole through
The bamboo pipe is then ready to use
Author; Masawe, Elifaraja E 6
7. Short pieces of bamboo stems are to be used
as connectors since bamboo pipes wont have
the desired length to cover
They should of small diameter compared to the
pipes to be connected
Ends of every pipe should be increased in
diameter to make the connector fit in between
with less losses in water to be conveyed
Author; Masawe, Elifaraja E 7
8. Bamboo laterals do not use manufactured
emitters , they are therefore made on the
laterals in the following ways;
holes are to be made on the bamboo lateral at the
considerable distance depending on the spacing of
crop to be grown
Cement is mixed with water and used to cover the
holes on laterals
A wire with a diameter of 0.5mm is used to penetrate
through the wet cement that covers the hole to
develop a hole of known diameter to be used as an
emitter
Author; Masawe, Elifaraja E 8
9. Bamboo drip irrigation advantages consist of all
drip irrigation with an addition of others i.e;
Water is used at maximum level.
As water is applied locally and leaching is reduced,
fertilizer/nutrient loss is minimized.
Weeds can not absorb water as no water is available for them.
Maximum crop yield
Fertilizers can be used with high efficiency.
Weeds are highly controlled
Operational cost is low.
Low initial cost , material used being bamboo stems.
Author; Masawe, Elifaraja E 9
10. Soil erosion is being controlled
Soil infiltration capacity is increased.
Fertilizers do not have direct contact with ground water
Seed germination is improved.
We can use recycled water safely.
It is not necessary to level the fields.
We can irrigate water in irregular shaped lands.
Energy cost is reduced as it is operated in lower pressure than
other irrigation methods.
Author; Masawe, Elifaraja E 10
11. Water management problem
Restricted root zone
Maintenance cost
Bamboo stems are vulnerable to wet climatic
conditions
Bamboo pipes are not perfectly mobile they are
therefore limited to certain type of crop such as fruits
where they can be put stationary
Clogging of emitters as a result of poor filtration
Author; Masawe, Elifaraja E 11
13. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME…
Author; Masawe, Elifaraja E 13
Editor's Notes
Drip irrigation is one of the methods of irrigation that saves water and fertilizer. In drip irrigation method, water drips slowly to the roots of the plants either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone through a network of valves, pipes, tubing and emitters. The process is completed in narrow tubes so that water is given directly to the root of the plant. Drip irrigation is also termed as localized irrigation or micro irrigation.