How has Smart Technology Impacted on Irrigation Technology?

According to some of the most recent statistics from the Energy Saving Trust, the water industry currently collects, treats and supplies more than 16 billion litres of water every day to its domestic and commercial customers.

This is an incredible amount of water by anyone’s standards, whilst it also partially explains why there’s a drive to minimise waste and drive far greater standards of energy efficiency.

Irrigation plays a key role in achieving this objective, as this refers to the application of controlled amounts of water to plants and crops at necessary intervals. In this post, we’ll ask how technological advancement has impacted on irrigation techniques in the UK, whilst paying particular attention to the application of smart technology.

Technology in Irrigation - A Brief Introduction

Ultimately, finding ways to increase the efficiency of irrigation systems is central to a number of industries across the globe, as well as having wider environmental implications.

This is an especially important goal for farmers, who are increasingly focused on the objective of enhancing their sustainability and revising their irrigation practices in the modern age.

Whilst much work is still to be done, of course, recent advancements have certainly provided assistance to farmers. More specifically, precise irrigation innovations are now available to help farmers fine-tune their practices in several different ways, most notably by determining when to irrigate the exact amount of water to use.

The development of more sophisticated machinery and equipment has also provided practical help to farmers, with components such as float switches offering a relevant case in point.

These switches, which are sold widely by suppliers such as RS Components, help to regulate the fluid levels in tanks and wells, and are commonly used to automatically control the level of groundwater and minimise waste during daily operation.

This type of small but significant innovation has had a positive impact on farmers and the irrigation process, although it represents just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the overall advancements made.

How is Smart Tech Impacting on Irrigation Practices?

We’re also in the midst of a smart technology revolution, which is impacting heavily on various industries and beginning to revolutionise the irrigation practices used by farmers.

One iteration of this cutting-edge technology exists in the form of sensors, which can be used to collate key operational and location data and transmit this in real-time remotely. Take soil-moisture sensors, for example, which monitors moisture content is targeted locations and help to inform real-time irrigation decisions.

This also helps them to identify instances where moisture reaches its specified or optimal levels, preventing overwatering over time.

Remote-sensing technology is also offering immense value to farmers, with thermal imaging from unmanned drones and satellites can provide farmers with unique ways of monitoring integrated crops. This certainly helps with the identification of potentially harmful issues, whilst also showing irregular irrigation patterns that would otherwise go unnoticed.

As we’ve already said these examples of smart tech can rely complex data sets in real-time, allowing for remote site management through mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. This undoubtedly represents the present and the future for irrigation practices, whilst it also offers huge value from an environmental perspective.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.