Quality of Irrigation water

• Just as every water is not suitable for human being, in the same manner
every water is not suitable for plant growth

• Water containing impurities which are injurious to the plant growth may
not be satisfactory for irrigation purpose

• Water impurities are classified as

• Sedimentation concentration in water

• Total concentration of soluble salts in water

• Proportion of sodium ions to the other cations

 Quality of Irrigation water

• Water impurities are classified as

• Concentration of potentially toxic elements presents in water

• Bicarbonate concentration (Concentration of Calcium + Magnesium)

• Bacterial contamination
 Quality of Irrigation water

• Sedimentation concentration in water : Effect of sedimentation in

irrigated water depend on the type of source sedimentation material and
irrigated land. When fine sedimentation from water is deposited on the
sandy soil, the fertility is improved. On the other hand if the sediment has
been derived from the eroded area, it may reduces fertility

• Total concentration of soluable salts : Salts of calcium, magnesium,

sodium and potassium present in the irrigation water may prove injurious
to osmotic activies of the plants and prevent adequate aeration, causing
injuries to the plant growth.
 Quality of Irrigation water

• At the beginning of irrigation undesirable water has no harm to the plants,

but with passage of time the salt concentration in the soil may be
increased to a harmful level, as the soil solution gets concentration by
evaporation

• The effect of salt on the plant growth depends largely upon the total
amount of salt present in the soil concentration

• The salinity concentration of the soil (CS) is given by

𝐶.𝑄
• 𝐶𝑆 =
𝑄− 𝐶𝑢−𝑅𝑒)
 Quality of Irrigation water

• The salinity concentration of the soil (CS) after consumptive use (Cu) has been
extracted from the soil is given by

𝐶.𝑄
• 𝐶𝑆 =
𝑄− 𝐶𝑢−𝑅𝑒)

• Where Q = The quanatity of water applied

• Cu = Consumptive use of the water, i.e total amount of water used by plants for
its growth

• Re = useful or effective rainfall

• Cu-Re = Used up irrigation water

• C = Concentration of salt in irrigation water

• C.Q = Total salt applied to soil with Q quantity of irrigation water

 Quality of Irrigation water

• Amount in excess of 700 ppm are harmful to some plants and more than
2000 ppm are injurious to all crops

• Salt concentration measured by the electrical conductivity of water

• Electricity conductivity is expressed in micro mhos per centimetre

 Quality of Irrigation water
S. Type of Water Use in Irrigation
No
1 Low salinity water (C1) . Conductivity Can be use for irrigation for almost all crops
between 100 to 250 micro mhos/cm at and for all kinds of soils
25 deg

2 Medium salinity water (C2) . Normal salt tolerant plants can be grown
Conductivity between 250 to 750 without much salinity control
micro mhos/cm at 25 deg

3 High salinity water (C3) . Conductivity Special precautions and measures are under
between 750 to 2250 micro mhos/cm at taken for salinity control and only high-salt
25 deg tolerant plants can be grown

4 Very high salinity water (C4) . Generally not suitable for irrigation
Conductivity more than 2250 micro
mhos/cm at 25 deg
 Quality of Irrigation water
• Proportion of sodium ions to other cations: Most of soils contain calcium and
magnesium ions and small quantities of sodium ions. The percentage of the sodium
ions is generally less than 5% of the total exchangeable cations.

• If this percentage increases to about 10% or more, the aggregation of soil grains
breakdown, the soil become less permeable and poor tilth

• The proportion of sodium ions present in soil, generally measured in factor called
Sodium-Absorption Ration (SAR) and represented the sodium hazards of water

𝑁𝑎+
• SAR =
𝐶𝑎++ + 𝑀𝑔++
2

• Where the concentration of the ions is expressed in equivalent per millions (epm)
 Quality of Irrigation water
• The proportion of sodium ions present in soil, generally measured in factor called
Sodium-Absorption Ration (SAR) and representated the sodium hazards of water

𝑁𝑎+
• SAR =
𝐶𝑎++ + 𝑀𝑔++
2

• Where the concentration of the ions is expressed in equivalent per millions (epm)

𝑚𝑔
𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑙 𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑝𝑚
• epm =
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑡+𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒)
 Quality of Irrigation water

S. Type of Water Use in Irrigation

No

1 Low sodium water (S1). SAR lies Use for almost all crops and for all kinds
between 0 to 10 of soils

2 Medium sodium water (S2). SAR May be used on course-texture or organic

lies between 10 to 18 soils with good permeability

3 High sodium water (S3). SAR lies Harmful on almost all the soils, require
between 18 to 26 good drainage, gypsum addition for
proper irrigation

4 Very high sodium water (S4). SAR Generally not suitable for irrigation
greater than 26
 Quality of Irrigation water

• Concentration of potentially toxic elements: A large number of elements such as

boron, selenium etc may be toxic to plants

• Traces of Boron are essential to plant growth, but concentration above 0.3 ppm

may prove toxic to certain plants

• The concentration above 0.5 ppm may be dangerous to nuts, citrus fruits

• Selenium, even in low concentration is toxic and must be avoided

 Quality of Irrigation water

• Bicarbonate Concentration : High concentration of bi-corbonated ions may result in

precipitation of calcium and magnesium bicarbonates from soil-solution, increase

the relative proportions of sodium ions and causing sodium hazards

• Bacterial Contamination : Bacterial contamination of irrigation water is not a serious

problem, unless the crops irrigated with highly contaminated water

 Quality of Irrigation water
• Ex: What is the classification of irrigation water having the following
characteristics : Concentration of Na, Ca, and Mg are 22, 3 and 1.5 milli-
equivalents per letre respectively and electrical conductivity is 200 micro mhos
per cm at 25 deg
 Definitions
• Crop period: It is time period required by a crop from the time of sowing to
the time of harvesting

• Base Period: it is the periods in days during which water is supplied to a

particular crop for its growth

• Each crop requires certain amount of water at certain interval of time

through out its period of growth

• The depth of water supplied in each time may various from 5 to 10 cm

depending upon the crop type, climate and soil type

• Ex: Water supplied to a crop continuously 10 days in January, 15 days in

February, 20 days in March for maturity, what is the base period of the crop is =
10+15+20 = 45 days
 Definitions
• Delta (∆) : it is total depth of water supplied to a crop for its growth during
entire base period

• Ex: if water supplied to rice crop, 20 cm in August, 15 cm in September, 10 cm

in October, 15 cm in November and 20 cm in December

• ∆ = 20+15+10+15+20 = 80 cm = 0.8 m

• Total depth of water supplied to crop during the base period represents
water requirement of the crop for its full growth

• Ex: if wheat requires about 75 cm of water after every 28 days and base period
for wheat is 140 days, find out the value of delta for wheat
 Definitions
• Frequency of irrigation or rotation period : the time interval between two
consecutive watering is called frequency of irrigation

• Duty (D) = it is the total area irrigated by a unit discharge running continuously
during the entire base period

• Units = area/cumec

• D gives the relationship between volume of water and area of the crop
which it mature

• Ex: if 10 cumes of water require to a crop in an area of 10,000 ha, then duty D
of the crop is ?
 Relationship between duty and delta
𝟖.𝟔𝟒 ∗𝑩 𝟖𝟔𝟒 ∗𝑩
• ∆= metres or centimeters
𝑫 𝑫

• Where B is in days and D is in hectares/cumec

• Ex 1: Find the delta for a crop when its duty is 864 hectares/cumec on the field,
the base period of crop is 120 days
∆ = 1.2 m /120 cm

• Ex : (a) Find the delta of a crop if the duty is 188 ha/cumec and base period is
130 days. (b) What would be the duty if delta is increased by 20% and base
period reduced by 10 days?
• ∆ = 0.624 m

• D = 1382 ha/cumecs
Layout of Canal System
 Layout of Canal System
• In a large canal irrigation system, the water from its source, flows into the main canal;

From the main canal, it flows into the branch canal; From the branch canal, it flows into

the distributary; From the distributary, it flows into the minor; From the minor, it flows

into the field channel/water course; and finally into the fields.

• During the passage of water through these irrigation canals, water is lost due to

evaporation and percolation

• These loses are called transit losses or transmission or conveyance losses in canal

• Duty of water for a crop defined as no of hectares of land can be irrigated through one

cumec supply of water throughout the base period

 Duty
• If water require of a particular crop is more, then lesser no of hectares of land it can
be irrigated, in otherwards, if water consumed by a crop of a given base period is
more, its duty will be less

• The duty of water-course will be less than duty of water on the field; because when
water flows from the head of the water-course and reaches the field, some water is lost
enroute as transit losses

• Applying the same reason

• The duty of water (D) at the head of a minor < ‘D’ at the head of water-course

• ‘D’ at the head of distributory < ‘D’ at the head of minor

• ‘D’ at the head of branch-canal < ‘D’ at the head of distributory

• ‘D’ at the head of a main-canal < ‘D’ at the head of branch-canal

 Factors Affecting Duty
• Duty of water varies from one place to another place and increases as one move
down stream from head of the main canal towards branches or water-courses

• The duty at the head of water-course (i.e outlet point of minor), is quite important and is
called outlet discharge factor, It is end point of the irrigation department
responsibilities

• Factors on which duty depends :

• Type of crops

• Climate and season

• Usefull rainfall

• Type of soil

• Efficiency of cultivation method

 Factors Affecting Duty
• Type of crops : different crops requires different amount of water requirements.
So, duty of water varies from crop to crop. The crop which require large
quantity of water have lower duty of water than for the crops which
requires less quantity of water

• Climate and season : Duty includes the water lost in evaporation and
percolation. Theses losses varies with seasons. Hence duty varies from season
to season

• Higher the temp, lesser is the duty of water

• Higher the wind velocity, lesser is the duty of water

• Higher the humidity, higher will be the duty

 Factors Affecting Duty

• Usefull rainfall : If some useful rainfall on the irrigate land, it will useful for

growth of the crop, then so much less irrigated water required to mature crop.

More useful rainfall, less will be requirement of irrigation water and hence

more will be the duty of irrigation water

• Type of soil : if permeability of soil under the irrigation crop is high, the

water lost due to the percolation will be more and hence duty will be less.

In case of sandy soils, the duty of water is less, because of the higher

permeability of sandy soils

 Factors Affecting Duty

• Canal condition : In an earthen canal, the percolation loss is high which will

result in a low duty of water. But, if the canal is lined, the percolation loss will

be less and duty of water will be high.

• Topography of land : if the land to be irrigated is properly levelled then

uniform application of water will be possible which will result in economical

use of water and hence a higher duty of water

• Base period of crop : In general when the base period of a crop is long, more

water may be required thus resulting in lower duty of water.

 Factors Affecting Duty
• Efficiency of cultivation method : if the cultivation method is faculty and less
efficient, resulting wastage of water, the duty of water will naturally less.

• If the irrigation of water economically used the duty of water will improve

• Importance of duty :

• Knowing the available water at the head of main canal and duty of various
crops to be irrigated in different seasons of a year, the area which can be
irrigated can be worked out.

• Inversely, if we know the crop area required to be irrigated and their duties,
we can work out the discharge required for designing the canal

• it helps in designing of efficient canal system

 Duty for Certain Crops

Crop Duty in hectares/cumec

Sugercane 730

Rice 775

Other Kharif 1500

Rabi 1800

Perennials 1100

Hot fodder 2000

 Crops Seasons
• Kharif : Starts from 1st April and ends on 30th September.

• The Kharif crops are rice, bajra, jowar, maize, cotton, tobacco, groundnut, etc

• The Kharif crops also called “ Summer crops”

• Rabi : Starts from 1st October and ends on 31th March

• The Rabi crops are wheat, barely, gram, linseed, mustard, potatoes, etc

• The Crop crops also called “Winter crops”

• Cash crops : Crop which has to be encashed in the market for processing, etc.

• Crops like jute, tea, cotton, tobacco, sugercane etc. are called cash crops
 Optimum utilization of Irrigation water
• Crops rotation : The process of changing the type of crop to be grown in the
same field is know as crop rotation

• It has found if the same crop is grown in same field every year, fertility of the
land gets diminished and crop production is reduced

• Optimum utilization of Irrigation water : if a crop is sown and produced

under absolute identical conditions, using different amount of water depths, the
yield is found to vary
 Optimum utilization of Irrigation water
• The yield increase with water, reaches a certain maximum value and falls down.
The quantity of water at which yield is maximum is called optimum water
depth
 Irrigation Efficiencies

• Efficiency of water- conveyance (nc) : It is defined as the ratio of the quantity

of water delivered to the field or the irrigated land to the quantity of water

diverting into the canal system from the river or reservoir.

• It represent water looses which occurs in conveyance from the point of

diversion into the canal system to the field

 Irrigation Efficiencies

• Thus, if Wf is the quantity of water delivered to the field and Wr is the quantity

of water diverted into the canal system from the river or reservoir then

𝑊𝑓
• nc = ∗ 100
𝑊𝑟
 Irrigation Efficiencies
• Water application efficiency (na) : It is defined as the ratio of the quantity of
water stored in the root zone of the plants to the quantity of water delivered to
the field. It represent water looses which occurs during the application of
irrigation water to the field, the common losses are evaporation and percolation

• If Ws is the quantity of water stored in the root zone and Wf is the quantity of
water delivered to the field

𝑊𝑠
• na = ∗ 100
𝑊𝑓

• If the Ef is quantity of water lost as evaporation from the field and Df is the
𝑊𝑓 −(𝐸𝑓 +𝐷𝑓 )
quantity of water lost due to percolation na = ∗ 100
𝑊𝑓
 Irrigation Efficiencies
• Water Use efficiency (nu) : It is defined as the ratio of the quantity of water
used beneficially including the water required for leaching to the quantity
of water delivered

• If Wu is the quantity of water used beneficially including the water required for
leaching and Wf is the quantity of water delivered to the field

𝑊𝑢
• nu = ∗ 100
𝑊𝑓
 Irrigation Efficiencies
• Water storage efficiency (ns) : It is defined as the ration of the quantity of
water stored in the root zone during irrigation to the quantity of water
needed to bring the moisture content of soil to the field capacity

• If Ws is the quantity of water stored in the root zone during irrigation and Wn is
the quantity of water need to bring the moisture content of the soil to the field
capacity (i.e Wn = Field capacity – available moisture in the soil prior to
irrigation)

𝑊𝑠
• ns = ∗ 100
𝑊𝑛
 Irrigation Efficiencies
• Water distribution efficiency or Uniform coefficient (nd) : The effectiveness
of irrigation measured by its water distribution efficiency or represents the
extent to which the water has penetrated to a uniform depth, through out the
field.

• When the water has penetrated uniformly throughout the field, the mean depth
is zero and water distribution efficiency is 1.0

• D is mean depth of water stored during irrigation, d is avg of the absolute

values of deviation form the mean

𝑑
• nd = 1 −
𝐷
 Irrigation Efficiencies
• Ex: The depths of penetration along the length of a boarded srip at point 30 m
apart were probed. Their observed values are 2.0, 1.9, 1.8, 1.6 and 1.5 m.
compute the water distribution efficiency?