Pumping and Irrigation Systems Tips
Energy-Saving Tips Cards
Download our hot weather energy-saving tips cards and reduce electricity costs as well as protect the environment.
No Cost
- Investigate ways to irrigate crops in less time. Many existing pump and irrigation systems have the potential to deliver the water your crops need in 18 hours, instead of 24 hours.
- Practice energy-efficient irrigation, which also helps to conserve water. Adopt irrigation scheduling methods and deficit irrigation practices to conserve water.
- Reduce sprinkler discharge pressure. Lower discharge pressures, friction losses and pumping pressures using flow control and pressure regulators save as much as 25% of the electricity used.
Low Cost
- Install simple pump timers. Timers allow farmers with automated tile drainage pumps to pump only during off-peak hours farmers.
- Maintain filters and install appropriately sized pipes. Economical pipe sizing and maintenance of filters greatly improve the energy efficiency of pumping systems.
- Test well pumps and improve the combined efficiency of the pump and motor or engine (overall pumping plant efficiency).
Good Investment
- Install internal combustion engines. Internal combustion engines reduce irrigation pumping costs. Also use clean pumping technologies to mitigate potential pollution issues surrounding combustion.
- Install variable speed drives (VSD). Reduce the total dynamic head of pumps (power consumption) by installing variable speed drive controllers. Dairy farmers can install drive controllers in milking pumps.
- Use subsurface drip irrigation. Subsurface drip irrigation technologies save upwards of 25% in water pumping, fertilizer and herbicide costs.
- Use variable speed drives (VSD) for lift pumps. VSDs save energy in that the water lifted matches the water available with very little air entrained.