Irrigation Pumping Energy Efficiency....… more about the “elephant in your irrigation system” than the pump

I was asked to conduct a pumping energy efficiency audit on an irrigated turf farm several years ago.

The client said it was a very well-maintained irrigation system and the pump had been tested twice in the last 5 years, with a clean bill of health, but wanted to check anyway.

My audit revealed a very efficient pump, albeit operating slightly off BEP.

However, I found that the pipeline friction had deteriorated significantly, raising pumped head, and therefore wasting energy. This went un-noticed by previous auditors, or the client.

There are no bad irrigation pumps on the market today, they are all so similar that there may be at most a 2% efficiency difference between them. So, it doesn’t matter if you choose a red, black, blue or green pump, you will get good pump efficiency.

However, the energy efficiency of the pump does not determine the pumping energy efficiency of your irrigation system.

Rather, good pumping system energy efficiency relies mostly on the hydraulic efficiency of your irrigation system, and that comes by design.

Without the energy efficiency considerations of pipelines, valves, filters and emitters, irrigation systems would not be energy efficient.

These items are regarded as “the elephant in the room” for irrigation pumping efficiency.

At the 2018 Irrigation Association Conference in Long Beach, CA, I will be presenting a paper called “Pumping Energy Efficiency – more than just testing pumps”.

This will highlight how just testing pumps is not even half the answer to chasing energy efficiency for irrigation pumping systems.

So, if you are attending this year’s IA Conference, come on down to Long Beach Convention Centre, Room 104A on Thursday 6th Dec at 10.50am and learn what constitutes complete irrigation pumping energy efficiency, the real elephant.

Sandy and I will be there, all the way from Adelaide, South Australia. So, see you there!

And, if you don’t go, you won’t know….

Contact me at [email protected] or +61 414 492 256 for more information

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