IRRIGATION

AND
DRAINAGE
ENGINEERING
ENGR. JOSE CARLO R. DIZON
WHAT IS IRRIGATION?
Irrigation, according to Israelsen
(1979), is the application of water to
soil for the purpose of supplying
moisture essential for plant growth.
WHAT IS DRAINAGE?
Drainage is the natural and/or
artificial removal of excess water
from land with the purpose of
lowering the amount of water in
the field.
 BASIC SOIL – WATER – PLANT
RELATIONS

The engineer should have a broad

understanding of the soil and water
relationships including its influence on
irrigation and drainage. Two much or too
little water in the soil would be detrimental
to crop. The concern is to know the
optimum range of soil moisture that will
provide favorable condition for crop growth
and development.
Water is extracted by the plants, through
its roots, from the soil and then transpired it
to the atmosphere. The rate of moisture
movement depends upon the climatic
conditions, the soil conditions, and the
plant characteristics.
 SOIL
PROPERTIES
THE SOIL

The soil serves as the storage of

water for plant use. Understanding
of its properties in relation to water
is very important in irrigation water
management.
 TOTAL VOLUME/ BULK VOLUME OF THE SOIL

VT = VA + VW + VS
 VOID VOLUME

VV = VA + VW

 TOTAL WEIGHT OF THE SOIL

WT = WA + WW + WS
1. SOIL TEXTURE
 Texturerefers to the size of particles
making up a soil.

 Texture determines the amount of

water that can be stored in a given
depth of soil.

 The finer the texture of the soil the

greater is the capacity to store
water.
2. SOIL STRUCTURE
 Soil structure is defined as the
arrangement and coherance of the soil
grains in a soil bulk.

 Columnar – more conducive to vertical

movement of water
 Platy – more conducive to puddling hence
lesser absorption of water.
 Granular – the ideal structure for irrigation
 Blocky – pore spaces are easily clogs.
3. APPARENT SPECIFIC
GRAVITY, As
 The apparent specific gravity of a soil is defined
as the ratio of the weight of a given volume of dry
soil, air space included, to the weight of equal
volume of water.

 This
ratio is known as the "volume weight" or "bulk
density".

 Thissoil property influences the capacity of soils to

retain irrigation water.
4. Real Specific Gravity, Rs
 The real specific gravity of a soil is defined as the
ratio of the weight of a single particle of soil to
the weight of a volume of water equal to the
volume of soil particle.

 The Rs of most soils approaches closely an

average of 2.65.
5. Porosity, n
 The volume of pores between the solid particles,
or the spaces between soil aggregates is referred
to as porosity. This is the portion occupied by air
and water in the soil and is expressed as percent
by volume.

 Porespace has influence upon the water-holding

capacity and the movement of air, and roots
through the soil.
6. Void Ratio, e
 It
is the ratio of the pore volume to the
volume of soil solids.

𝑉𝑣
𝑒=
𝑉𝑆𝑃
Where:
e = void ratio
Ve = volume of voids or pore spaces
Vs = volume of soil solids
Derived Relationships:

As = Rs (1 – n)

and

Rs = As(1 + e)
6. Particle Density, Pd
 Pd is ratio of the dry weight of the soil to the
volume of soil particles (g/cm3).
 Average particle density = 2.65g/cc
7. Bulk Density, Bd
 Theratio of the dry weight of the soil to its
volume, g/cm3.

 Sand (greatest Bd)

 Clay (least Bd)

8. Infiltration, i
 Infiltration
is the time rate of which water
enters into the soil surface.

 Infiltration
rate affects the rate of irrigation
application.

 Irrigation
application rate should be at most
equal to infiltration rate to minimized
application losses.
 Infiltration Capacity
vs
Infiltration Rate
 Infiltration
Capacity - is the maximum rate
at which water can be absorbed by a
given soil per unit area under given
conditions.

 Infiltration
rate - is the velocity or speed at
which water enters into the soil. It is the
actual process happening in the soil.
If, rainfall intensity (Ri) is less than the
infiltration capacity (f)

Infiltration rate = Rainfall intensity

If, rainfall intensity (Ri) is greater than

infiltration capacity (f)

Infiltration rate = Infiltration Capacity

9. Intake rate, I
 Intake rate is the term used whenever the
configuration of soil surface influences the
rate of water entry into the soil.

 Infiltration
from a furrow into a soil is referred
to as intake rate.
10. Percolation, Pe
 Percolation is the downward movement of
water through the soil profile.

 Inirrigation, percolation is that portion of water

applied that moves down the soil profile
beyond root zone depth of the plant.

 Information of percolation is useful in

estimating water losses.
11. Seepage, Se

 the
lateral or sideward movement of
water.

 Informationof seepage is very useful in

estimating water losses in lowland field.
12. Permeability, P
 isthe property of the soil to allow moisture
to move through the pore spaces of a soil
mass.

 Itis influenced mostly by the physical

properties of the soil.
13. Hydraulic Conductivity, K

 It is the permeability in saturated soil.

 This
is influenced by both soil and water
properties.
 CLASSES AND
AVAILABILITY
OF SOIL MOISTURE
Classification of Soil Moisture
1. Hygroscopic Water - water on the surface of the
soils grains and is not capable of movement by the
action of gravity or capillary forces.

2. Capillary Water - is that part in excess of

hygroscopic water which exists in the pore space of
the soil and is retained against the force of gravity in
the soil.

3. Gravitational Water - is that part in excess of

hygroscopic water and capillary water which will
move out of the soil if favorable drainage is
provided.
 Water drains from the soil under the constant
pull of gravity.

 Therate of drainage is most rapid immediately

after irrigating and decreases constantly.

 On the average, 2 days are required before the

rate of drainage decreases and gravitational
water has been removed from the root zone.
Saturation Capacity (SC)/ Saturation Point -
the amount of water required to fill the
pore space in a soil volume. The maximum
moisture that the soil can contain. For all
practical purposes, it is not possible that the
soil air can be completely replaced by
water. During irrigation, part of the soil air is
trapped in the soil thus the amount of
water contained at a saturation capacity is
about 85% to 95% of the volume of the
pore spaces.
Field Capacity (FC) - the amount of water held in
the soil after the excess gravitational water has
drained away. Water movement ceased usually
within 2-3 days after rain or irrigation. Soil moisture
tension at field capacity is normally between 1/10
and 1/3 atmosphere. Sandy soils tend to be near
1/10 atm., while clay tend toward 1/3 atm.

Permanent Wilting Point (PWP) - the soil moisture

content when plants can no longer able to extract
sufficient moisture from the soil to meet its water
needs. The soil moisture tension when the soil is at
PWP is generally considered to be 15 atm.
Available Moisture (AM) – the difference in moisture
content of the soil between field capacity and
permanent wilting. This represents the moisture
which can be stored in the soil for subsequent use
by plants. Available moisture can be expressed as
percentage moisture by weight, as percentage by
volume, or as depth, whichever is most convenient.

Readily Available Moisture (RAM) – soil moisture

content near the wilting point is not readily
available to the plant. Hence the term readily
available moisture has been used to refer to that
portion of the available moisture that is most easily
extracted by plants, approximately 75% of the
available moisture.
SOIL MOISTURE
ESTIMATION
 1. Percentage by weight of the
Soil (PW):
 Themoisture in the soil is expressed in terms of
percentage of the dried weight of the soil.
2. Percentage by Volume (PV)
 The moisture in the soil is expressed in terms of
volume percentage of the soil. This is the
proportion of the volume of water contained in a
unit volume of soil.
 3. Depth per unit depth of soil
(d)
 The moisture content of the soil is express in terms
of linear dimensions or depth per unit depth of
the soil.
A sharp-edged cylinder 150 mm in diameter carefully
driven into the soil so that negligible compaction
occurs. A 200 mm column of saturated soil is secured.
The wet weight is 6570. The weight when gravitational
water has been removed is 5525 grams and the dry
weight is 4950 grams. It is found out that the volume of
soil particles is 1900 cm3. Determine the following:
a. Moisture content dry weight basis, Pw 11.62%
b. Apparent specific gravity, As 1.4
c. Moisture content volume basis, Pv 16.27%
d. Volume of voids, Vv 1634.29 cc
e. Void Ratio, e 0.86
f. Bulk density, Bd 1.4 g/cc
g. Particle density, Pd 2.6 g/cc
h. Real specific gravity, Rs 2.6
i. Porosity, n 46.18%
j. Moisture content in terms of depth (cm) in 1 meter depth of soil, d
16.286 cm