Irrigation - Water Mgmt, Pollution and Alt. Strategies

246 Pages·2012·8.316 MB·English

by  I. Garcia-Garizabal, et. al.

IRRIGATION –
WATER MANAGEMENT,
POLLUTION AND
ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES

Edited by Iker García-Garizábal
and Raphael Abrahao
Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies
Edited by Iker García-Garizábal and Raphael Abrahao

Published by InTech
Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia

Copyright © 2012 InTech
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Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic
Cover Designer InTech Design Team

First published March, 2012
Printed in Croatia

A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com
Additional hard copies can be obtained from [email protected]

Irrigation – Water Management, Pollution and Alternative Strategies,
Edited by Iker García-Garizábal and Raphael Abrahao
p. cm.
ISBN 978-953-51-0421-6

Contents

Preface IX
Chapter 1 Comparing Water Performance by
Two Different Surface Irrigation Methods 1
Francisco Mojarro Dávila, Carlos Francisco Bautista Capetillo,
José Gumaro Ortiz Valdez and Ernesto Vázquez Fernández
Chapter 2 Watershed Monitoring for the Assessment of
Irrigation Water Use and Irrigation Contamination 21
Iker García-Garizábal, Raphael Abrahao and Jesús Causapé
Chapter 3 Pumice for Efficient Water Use
in Greenhouse Tomato Production 39
Miguel Angel Segura-Castruita, Luime Martínez-Corral,
Pablo Yescas-Coronado, Jorge A. Orozco-Vidal
and Enrique Martínez-Rubín de Celis
Chapter 4 Cyclic Irrigation for Reducing Nutrients and Suspended
Solids Loadings from Paddy Fields in Japan 57
Takehide Hama
Chapter 5 Urbanization, Water Quality Degradation and Irrigation
for Agriculture in Nhue River Basin of Vietnam 83
Mai Van Trinh and Do Thanh Dinh
Chapter 6 Recycling Vertical-Flow Biofilter: A Treatment
System for Agricultural Subsurface Tile Water 99
K.H. Baker and S.E. Clark
Chapter 7 Water Regime Affecting the Soil and
Plant Nitrogen Availability 109
Adrijana Filipović
Chapter 8 The Response of Ornamental
Plants to Saline Irrigation Water 131
Carla Cassaniti, Daniela Romano and Timothy J. Flowers
VI Contents

Chapter 9 Greywater Use in Irrigation:
Characteristics, Advantages and Concerns 159
Cristina Matos, Ana Sampaio and Isabel Bentes
Chapter 10 Risks for Human Health of Using
Wastewater for Turf Grass Irrigation 185
Pilar Mañas, Elena Castro and Jorge de las Heras
Chapter 11 Marginal Waters for Agriculture – Characteristics
and Suitability Analysis of Treated Paper Mill Effluent 209
P. Nila Rekha and N.K. Ambujam
Chapter 12 Occurrence and Survival of Pathogenic
Microorganisms in Irrigation Water 221
Nohelia Castro-del Campo, Célida Martínez-Rodríguez
and Cristóbal Chaidez

Preface

It is widely accepted that irrigation allows for the increase and stability in agrarian
yields, being a necessary tool to support food supplies and necessities for certain raw
materials in the world. However, irrigated agriculture is also considered the most
significant fresh water consumer and one of the main causes of pollution, degradation
and depletion of natural resources. These impacts are primarily related to changes in
the water cycle, salinization of agricultural soils, and salinization and pollution of
water resources due to the use of agrochemicals.
The future of irrigated agriculture should be focused on a better use of water resources
and on the minimization of generated pollutants, through the implementation of new
management strategies, reduction and reuse of inputs, and development of new
technologies.
In this collection of 12 chapters, we present the panorama of some of the main issues
related to irrigated agriculture. This book can be divided into three parts: the first one
deals with irrigation management and the first chapter presents a comparison of water
use efficiency and productivity in two different furrow irrigation systems. Chapter
two compares water management and contamination generated in two different
irrigated systems - a flood irrigated land versus a pressurized irrigated land. The third
chapter evaluates the behavior of sandy-pumice as an improver of the moisture
holding capacity of the soil.
The second part of the book comprehends five chapters and examines the impact of
agricultural activity on rivers and downstream areas. Chapter 4 evaluates the ability of
cyclic irrigation to reduce the net exports of nutrients and suspended solids in paddy
fields. Chapter 5 studies the irrigation capacity of a river for crop production and the
subsequent degradation of water quality and soils. The sixth chapter reports on the
potential use of bio-filters for the removal of excess nutrients from drainage water.
Chapter 7 explains the problematic of N fertilization and evaluates measurement
methods to establish adequate fertilization rates on potato crops. The last chapter of
this group, chapter 8, reviews water salinity problems and salt tolerance of ornamental
plants, a historically forgotten issue in salinity studies.
The third part comprises four chapters and examines the effect of water reuse on
irrigation. In this way, chapter 9 presents a general perspective on water reuse, the
X Preface

advantages and disadvantages of greywater use in irrigation and also provides a case
study on the required quantity and quality of greywater for its reuse in irrigation.
Chapter 10 studies the applicability of treated wastewater for turf grass and assesses
the effects of the continuous use of treated water on the soil and crop (besides the risk
for human health). Chapter 11 studies the water quality and suitability of tertiary-
treated paper mill effluents for irrigation. The final chapter of this book deals with the
incidence of some pathogenic microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp and
Listeria spp) in irrigation water and the survival time of these microorganisms when
exposed to different physicochemical parameters.
This book presents an interesting approach to main irrigation techniques used in
irrigated agriculture, an introduction to pollution and possibilities of its minimization in
irrigated lands, and the potential reuse of different types of waters. We hope these
studies will provide a basis for future research and knowledge, applied towards changes
in agricultural management and new perspectives for improving water quality and
increasing the productivity of water resources used in agricultural activities.
Finally, our thanks are given to the authors involved for their considerable
contribution to this book.

Dr Iker García-Garizábal,
Department of Earth Science, University of Zaragoza,
Spanish Geological Survey,
Spain
Dr Raphael Abrahao,
MIRARCO–Mining Innovation,
Laurentian University,
Canada