CET 3414 Irrigation And Drainage

5.4.1 Mole drainage

5.4.2 Well drainage
5.4.3 Bio-drainage
5.4.4 Pump drainage
5.4.5 Raised bed-pond system
5.5 Project planning for drainage works
5.5.1 Preliminary investigations for drainage works
5.5.2 Feasibility studies of drainage projects
5.6 Drainage for sustainable agriculture

Lecture notes by: Mr. Félicien MAJORO, January 2012   Page 4

 CET 3414 Irrigation And Drainage

I INTRODUCTION
1.1 DEFINITION OF DRAINAGE

Drainage = is the removal of excess water and dissolved salts from the surface and subsurface of
the land in order to enhance crop growth.

1.2 NEEDS FOR DRAINAGE

1.2.1 Related definitions to drainage

(i) Ponding: the accumulation of excess water on the soil surface.

(ii) Water logging: the accumulation of excess water in the root zone of the soil.
(iii) Salinization: the accumulation of soluble salts at the soil surface or at some points
below the soil surface that they have negative effects on plant growth and on
soils.

1.2.2 Drainage to control ponding

(1) To remove ponding water from the surface of land, surface drainage is used.
Normally, this consists on digging shallow open drains.
To make easy the flow in these drains, the field is given an artificial slope.
This is known as land shaping or land grading.

(2) Surface drainage is the removal of ecxess water from the surface of the land by
diverting it into improved natural or constructed drains, by shaping and graiding of the
land surface towards such drains.

1.2.3 Drainage to control water logging

(1) To remove excess water from the root zone, subsurface drainage is used.
This is done by digging open drains or installing pipes, at depths varying from 1 to 3m .
The excess water flows down through the soil into these drains or pipes so that the water
table can be controlled.
(2) Subsurface drainage is the removal of excess water and dissolved salts from soils via
ground water flow to the drains so that the water table and root-zone salinity are
controlled.

1.2.4 Drainage to control salinization

(1) To remove salts from the soil, more irrigation water is applied to the field than the
required quantity by crops.
The extra water infiltrates into the soil and percolates trhough the root zone.
While water is percolating, it disolves the salts in the soil and removes them through the
subsurface drains.
This process, in which water washes the salts out of the root zone, is called leaching.

Lecture notes by: Mr. Félicien MAJORO, January 2012   Page 5