Below is the entirety of our group's paper: "Design Summary and Reflection for Optimized Irrigation", which we made as a way to present our ideas for an ideal future where the goal was to minimize water waste of commercial farming in the United States. My group was Group 5, composed of myself, Noah Grimaldo, Chris Moser, and Andrew Miller.
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Currently the agricultural industry is draining the USA of
its freshwater supply. American farmers use about 118 billion gallons of water
for irrigation each day,[1] which hurts many of the natural
environments as well as its own agricultural industry. One of the major
contributors to our water crisis is, ironically enough, the agricultural
industry. Irrigation is one of the largest yearly consumers of freshwater, and
it is accountable for over 40% of the freshwater used annually.[1] With
the ongoing droughts that have been hitting the country for the past two
decades,[2] water conservation should be a top priority for the
benefit of both humans and the environment in which we live. However, a large
portion of the agricultural industry still chooses to use inefficient and
outdated irrigation systems, wasting resources that could have otherwise been
saved. This is where our product comes in. It creates an easy-to-install
irrigation grid that has a much higher efficiency than current methods, as well
as allowing the farmer to control exactly how their crops are being watered.
What we’ve designed is a series of spikes that are impaled into the ground,
each with a valve and moisture sensor which will all link up to a single
control panel where the farmer can monitor all sections of their crop and
adjust the water levels of each individual sector as needed. These spikes are
connected by a grid of tubing that allows both water and electricity to flow
freely and safely through the crop. Since each spike will be underground, a
much higher percentage of water will be absorbed by the plants, and the direct
control over water flow will mean there will be less wasted water when a
section is sufficiently saturated. This system will also be available for farms
of any size, as the grid is installed uniformly for farms of all sizes. Each
grid will come with a roller that attaches to the back of a standard tractor,
that will set spikes into the exact positions they need to be inserted at. This
product will allow any farm of any size to reach near 100% water productivity,[3]
and help reduce the ecological footprint farms create. The future is
bright for both farmers and the wildlife they interact with.
II.
INTRODUCTION
America’s farming industry has had a continual and negative impact on the surrounding environment. Large-scale agriculture has been depleting water and taxing local environments for generations. We can do better. So, to the farmers of America, we ask: How might we better interact with our environment when it comes to our water usage? This question applies to any and everyone in the agriculture business because it’s a problem that impacts everybody.
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| Fig. 1. System Map of American Agriculture Industry |
Beyond simply the individual farmers and farming families that make up local growers and markets, the world of US agriculture is a vast and interconnected network of individuals, companies, and organizations that keep everything running smoothly from field to table. This is where our system map (Fig. 1.) comes into play. We wanted to map all of the human elements of the American agriculture system and so we selected nine key groups that contribute to the policies and practices within the farming community. We then determined the nature of the relationships between these groups in order to get a better understanding of the industry as a whole. Water, you see, is a precious and increasingly scarce resource. As human population grows and the agricultural needs to match it, water will become an extremely valuable and difficult to manage resource. This impacts everyone in the agricultural system and beyond. Understanding the needs and motives of each group we analyzed was critical in developing a solution that would benefit all parties involved. Droughts and water scarcity issues are serious problems in more arid regions of the US like California, Texas, or Colorado [2] and while our current irrigation systems are effective, they can end up wasting up to 35% of water applied [3] which can lead to massive water shortages down the line. We want to minimize the strain we put on our environment by limiting how much water is wasted every year on watering crops so that there will be more water to go around not only for humans but for all other organisms we share our planet with. Creating a method to achieve sustainable mass farming irrigation in balance with the surrounding environment is imperative to maintaining a healthy cycle for all plant and animal life in the US.
III.
CONCEPT GENERATION
In order to combat this issue, we started off with a variety
of solutions (Fig. 2.), which we narrowed down using a set of criteria that we
deemed the most important. These criteria are ease of implementation,
environmental benefits, lasting consequences, monetary cost, and long-term
practicality. We chose these criteria because we wanted to consider the short
term and long-term effects of our solutions and we felt that these five
priorities would be best to determine the overall effectiveness of our
solutions.Fig. 2. Design Decision Matrix for Potential Solutions
Once we had our ideas narrowed down to a singular solution,
we began brainstorming designs to implement in order to achieve the most
efficient irrigation system for an optimal future where we would have access to
unlimited support, resources, and money.Fig. 3. Initial Design Sketches and Ideas for Irrigation Grid
We utilized critiques and research to flush out our idea to a more polished design, then began asking questions about how it would work in practice and what would be required in order for the design to be effective in the way that we wanted. We went through several sketching phases (Fig. 3.) while refining our idea, going from an initial whiteboard sketch to close-up sketches to brainstorming deployment methods and back around again. Eventually those rough sketches were compiled and turned into CAD assemblies of the irrigation grid (Fig. 4.) as well as the deployment spool. We had an intended design purpose that we wanted to achieve and so we researched pre-existing technologies that could feasibly and ideally exist 50 years from now in the future we’re designing for. With this second round of research, we modified our design until we felt it was at its most effective before finalizing it
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| Fig. 4. CAD Design for Sample Irrigation Grid |
The solution we came up with is a modular grid of interconnected spikes that would be driven into the ground. These spikes have soil moisture sensors inside of them to keep watch over how much water is in the soil at any given time and together they would work to form a network of sensors all knowing exactly what areas need how much water and at what time.
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| Fig. 5. Engineering Drawing of Flexible Tubing and Spike Line |
The flexible tubing would be above ground and would contain
both the power source (electrical wiring) and the water for the spikes to
irrigate the ground with. Plants absorb water through their roots,[4]
so a direct watering system into the soil at the root level would ensure that
the amount of water wasted would be as small as possible. The sensors would be
connected to a panel and potentially even a farmer’s smartphone, giving alerts
when a sensor goes down or when an area is receiving too much or too little
water so that a farmer could know and react in real time. The panel would be
where the controls would be located, whereas the app would merely act as a
remote way of checking in and keeping tabs on the sensors and any potential
errors. The tubing would be connected directly into the farm’s water line
and/or to a rainwater recycling system and the sensors would have the
capability to be powered either by power lines or by solar panels on the property.
The flexible tubing allows leniency for farmers installing the grid, allowing
for imperfections in installation while still maintaining full functionality.
With variable grid densities, farmers could choose how detailed they want their
irrigation to be, either a high density of sensors and gridlines for delicate
crops or a lower density of sensors for more robust crops.
Fig. 6. Engineering Drawing of the Grid Roller Applicator
These grids would be installed on a plot of land via the
roller (Fig. 6.) before the seeding process began so that the system can be
troubleshot before the growing season starts. The system would be reactive as
well as interactive, being able to monitor itself and cut off sections that
don’t need water or alternatively, allowing water flow to sections that do need
it. Irrigation scheduling would be a thing of the past, as farmers could
observe and control the soil moisture of their land, either setting the system
to water up until a certain level of soil moisture or setting the system to
have individual sensors watching for different moisture levels, which would be
more useful for intercropping farms or farms with multiple crops in the same
field. This solution, being a combination of drip and subsurface irrigation
systems, would be utilizing the irrigation methods with the least amount of
water waste [3] while also making them accessible for farms in every
climate. The sensors would ensure that no area would go over or under watered,
keeping crop yields high and water waste low.
IV.
POTENTIAL NEXT STEPS
While the system we have presented will increase efficiency
in agriculture substantially, there are still a number of potential next steps
that could be taken that could improve the efficiency of farming as well as
reduce its impact on the environment. One potential next step is to increase
the use of intercropping. Intercropping is the growth of two or more crops in
close proximity, in the same row or field/bed. This allows for an increased
rate of crop production, improved control of weeds, as well as improving soil
water sharing.[5] Along with intercropping another potential step to
take would be to have more efficient crop diversity within the US agricultural
system. Right now, corn and soybeans use more water than any other crop and are
grown at the highest rates of any single crop. Introducing more diversity into
what crops are being grown can allow for healthier and more fertile soil as
well as increased diversity in American diets. Many typical diets across the
USA are composed heavily of corn and beef, the latter of which requires even
more corn and grain. Diversifying the supply of crops can lead to more diverse
diets for humans and the livestock we tend to, potentially even decreasing the
impact cattle farming has on climate change. The last, but perhaps most
important step to take would be to increase the use of rainwater collection and
recycling systems. Collecting and reusing rainwater can help reduce the
environmental impact of even the least efficient irrigation systems, and when
paired with a system as efficient as ours, it can lead to a future where water
scarcity is nearly unheard of. To encourage more sustainable farming, farms
should implement solar panels in tandem with our irrigation system to further
minimize their carbon and ecological footprints. Any one of these changes could
improve our interactions with our environment, but together with our plan for
efficient irrigation these could very well be the next steps towards
sustainable and efficient farming for all aspects of the environments we farm in.
V.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, when it comes to the question of better interacting with our environment, our answer is more efficient irrigation. We developed a modular, highly water productive method for controlling how much water is used to water crops. We believe that implementing this technology in farms across America could dramatically increase the efficiency of irrigation in the agricultural industry. Our irrigation grid has the potential to make irrigation 95% efficient in every farm in the US, minimizing water waste across the entire agriculture industry. We wanted to ensure that our system would be efficient and easy to use for any farmer that installed it so we created a custom spool and trailer system that can simply unroll the grid onto the desired plot of land without much hassle. The stakes would be driven into the ground as the grid is laid out, ensuring that the system can be fully installed in the span of an afternoon. In addition to being easy to implement, our system also has failsafes in case any sensor goes down or any anomaly is detected in the flow of water. Each piece of conduit connecting individual stakes can be replaced if needed, as well as the stakes themselves. The stakes maintain water flow in a modular fashion; they can be adjusted to different densities and patterns as need be. The moisture sensors embedded in each sensor also form an electrical-sensory grid throughout the field where they are installed. Each piece of connecting conduit consists of a three stranded wire (power, signal, ground), and a larger water conduit. The wires would be used to power the valves on each stake, and also to take sensory inputs from the moisture sensors on each stake. This allows for constant monitoring of moisture levels, and proportional application of moisture only when and where it is needed. As a team we’re interested in pursuing a physical prototype, especially with the knowledge and experience gained from creating the virtual parts and assemblies. Our product could be applied to any crop in any field and would especially aid in the care for more delicate and water-intensive crops. In an ideal future, our high efficiency system would be applied to all crop fields in the country in order to greatly reduce the environmental impact of wasted water that agriculture has throughout the nation.
REFERENCES
[1] USGS. “Irrigation Water Use.” https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/irrigation-water-use?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects
[2] NIDIS. “Historical Data and Conditions.” https://www.drought.gov/historical-information?dataset=0&selectedDateUSDM=20020730
[3] Water Footprint Calculator. “Why All Farms
Don’t Use Drip Irrigation.” https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/farmers-use-drip-irrigation/
[4] K. Reichardt, L. C. Timm. “How Do Plants
Absorb Soil Water?” https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-19322-5_14
[5] Scientific Reports. “Enhancing the systems
productivity and water use efficiency through coordinated soil water sharing
and compensation in strip-intercropping.” https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28612-6
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