From Sun Nov 20 14:56:12 1994 Received: from by with SMTP id AA25082 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Sun, 20 Nov 1994 18:51:33 -0600 Received: by ( id AA11425; Sun, 20 Nov 1994 19:56:12 -0500 Date: Sun, 20 Nov 1994 19:56:12 -0500 From: Message-Id: <> To: Subject: Vectored subsurface irrigation Once again, I find it my obligation to stimulate conversation. I know we're all busy this time of year such that contributing to our email list is difficult. Please respond if you find this topic interesting. Upon reading the proceedings of the 15th International Irrigation Exposition and Technical Conference (held in Atlanta), I stumbled upon an article entitled "Vectored Subsurface Irrigation". In short, vectored subsurface irrigation is a new technology for manipulating the distribution of subsurface applied water. It is primarily used in the turf and landscape industry, specifically on sandy soils. Since we don't have graphic capabilities (yet), I will try to describe it using text. A "V" shaped continuous piece of plastic is installed directly below the buried drip line (i.e. \o/ ). That's the best I can do to describe what this idea looks like with a keyboard. The "V" shape nozzle impedes the downward movement of water emitted from the drip line. After the "V" is filled with water during the first few minutes of irrigation, moving water is continuously pushed upward and outward using capillarity into the dry soil at the wetting front. This phenomenon creates a greater horizontal wetting pattern. As the soil becomes saturated by horizontally moving water, the effect of gravity dominates and downward percolation begins. The final wetting pattern is approximately rectangular vs. elliptical or elongated sphere, specifically in sandy soils. My main point of initiating this topic is to bring up certain questions fo discussion: 1) Have any of you heard of this technology and if so, is it limited to the turf/landscape industry? 2) Could this technology be used on shallow rooted agricultural crops (onions, lettuce, cauliflower, radish) specifically on sandy soils? 3) Can you think of any disadvantages of vector-flow technology? 4) If you have heard of this technology, how is installation accomplished? I am having trouble envisioning installing the "V" aspect of the system. 5) Do you think this technology would be advantageous in heterogeneous soils? 6) Do you think it would have an economic advantage by saving on the number of drip laterals placed in a field (further spacing due to more horizontal distribution)? We now have 127 subscribers. If any of you have not received a "welcome document" from me, please email me at: MEAD2513@AOL.COM Happy replying! Richard Mead List Owner