Consideration 5: Your water source

The four factors you need to consider

  • Max flow rate (m3 /hr) (gpm)

  • Max total volume available per season/year

  • Are there any restrictions on when you have access to the water (e.g. available hours)?

  • + a very important factor – cost!

How much water do you have?

Drip requires a constant and reliable water source as you usually irrigate multiple times per week.

Remember, your water source needs to be able to deliver the peak water requirement. Your crops average requirement may be 4 mm (0.16 in)/day. However, most crops will have a peak water requirement due to a combination of high growth stage and hotter/drier climate. This could be 8 mm (0.31 in)/day, for example. The system needs to be able to deliver the water for the peak day, not the average.

Once you know what your peak water requirement is, then you need to work out if you have that amount of water. This availability may be impacted by government/water authority restrictions. If you design a system that needs more water than what you have available, the system will be unable to deliver when you need it most.

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