Agricultural producers and consultants, engineers, equipment dealers, government agency employees, educators, students, and others interested in the technology of irrigation have a newly published resource to help them better understand all aspects of sprinkler irrigation systems. The book Sprinkler Irrigation Systems, MWPS-30 from MidWest Plan Service (MWPS) provides a systematic approach to the whys and hows of developing sprinkler irrigation systems.

Thomas Scherer, an Associate Professor and Extension Engineer in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at North Dakota State University, served as chair of the group that wrote the book. He says Sprinkler Irrigation Systems was developed to provide a planning tool, reference guide, and design manual for a broad audience. According to Scherer, the authors wanted MWPS-30 to be a repository of the technical knowledge necessary to design and develop sprinkler irrigation systems. Another goal was to further an understanding of the methods used to manage irrigation systems efficiently.

In line with those aims, the book provides information that helps to determine water needs and to establish a minimum recommended system capacity. The publication also includes a discussion of the methods used to evaluate a water supply and to determine the type of sprinkler system that best fits a specific need.

One chapter is devoted to understanding and using water sources properly. This chapter includes sections on planning, drilling, developing, pumping, and maintaining irrigation wells. Separate chapters discuss sprinkler performance characteristics and sprinkler selection and management. Another chapter explains how to select pumps, piping, and power units.

The book does not neglect special uses for irrigation systems. One chapter discusses chemigation, which is the application of fertilizers and pesticides through irrigation systems. Another discusses using sprinkler irrigation systems to apply effluent from animal production systems, municipal treatment plants, and food processing plants. This chapter focuses on the need to apply effluents without detrimental effects to surface water, ground water, soil, and crops.

The final chapter in the book contains examples covering the step-by-step planning and design process for different sprinkler irrigation systems. Included in the examples are designs for a center-pivot system with a well, a traveler irrigation system, and an irrigation system for a small acreage that is producing horticultural crops.

Sprinkler Irrigation Systems contains more than 110 photographs and illustrations. Included in the illustrations are example layouts of irrigation systems and diagrams of pumping and piping systems. The book has approximately 70 tables that help to organize technical data, including estimated pressure losses for hard and soft hoses, peak application rates for various systems, maximum flow rates, friction losses, and efficiencies of typical drive units.

MWPS-30, Sprinkler Irrigation Systems, was prepared under the direction of the Water Quality Committee of MWPS. MWPS is a cooperative regional research and extension organization headquartered at Iowa State University and representing the 12 land-grant universities of the North Central Region of the United States and the USDA.

In addition to Scherer, five other university faculty members helped write the book. They are William Kranz, Assistant Professor and Extension Irrigation Specialist; and C. Dean Younts, Associate Professor of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska; Donald Pfost, Associate Professor and Extension Engineer, University of Missouri; Hal Werner, Professor and Extension Agricultural Engineer, South Dakota State University; and Jerry A. Wright, Associate Professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and Extension Engineer, University of Minnesota.

MWPS-30, Sprinkler Irrigation Systems, costs $20.00 per single copy. Price includes tax and shipping. To order MWPS-18, Section 3, send check (sorry we do not except credit card orders) or money order to:

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