Reducing evaporation losses - opportunities for cost effective water savings

Paper

Schmidt, Erik. 2009. "Reducing evaporation losses - opportunities for cost effective water savings." Irrigation Australia 2009: Irrigation Australia Irrigation and Drainage Conference: Irrigation Today - Meeting the Challenge. Swan Hill, Australia 18 - 21 Oct 2009 Sydney, Australia.
Paper/Presentation Title

Reducing evaporation losses - opportunities for cost effective water savings

Presentation TypePaper
Authors
AuthorSchmidt, Erik
Journal or Proceedings TitleIrrigation Australia 2009: Irrigation Australia Irrigation and Drainage Conference: Proceedings
Number of Pages18
Year2009
Place of PublicationSydney, Australia
Web Address (URL) of Paperhttp://www.irrigation.org.au/index.cfm?/events/irrigation-australia-2009
Conference/EventIrrigation Australia 2009: Irrigation Australia Irrigation and Drainage Conference: Irrigation Today - Meeting the Challenge
Event Details
Irrigation Australia 2009: Irrigation Australia Irrigation and Drainage Conference: Irrigation Today - Meeting the Challenge
Event Date
18 to end of 21 Oct 2009
Event Location
Swan Hill, Australia
Abstract

Annual evaporation losses from irrigation storage dams and channels are significant: it is estimated that there are more than 2,000,000 farm dams across Australia (Australian Water Association, 2006) representing some 8,000,000 ML water stored. Annual evaporation losses from these storages are estimated to be around 1.32GL/yr and up to 2.88GL/yr (Baillie, 2008).

This suggests investing in infrastructure to reduce such evaporative losses would be an attractive option for modernising irrigation systems. Various products are already being used commercially for evaporation management, but come at high capital cost and are not considered appropriate for large areas.

This paper discusses opportunities for cost effective water savings using evaporation mitigation technologies. Technologies for measuring seepage and evaporation losses from dams are described and the economic viability of investing in evaporation control products is discussed, using case studies. The performance of different products is compared using an online Economic Ready Reckoner for evaporation mitigation systems and data from the case studies.

The CRC for Irrigation Futures has been researching the potential for using chemical monolayers for evaporation management since 2004. A brief review of this research is provided, including an assessment of the performance of monolayer products, factors affecting performance, and the development of monolayer application, monitoring and control systems.

Keywordsevaporation; water resources; monolayer
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020400411. Water treatment processes
300299. Agriculture, land and farm management not elsewhere classified
300201. Agricultural hydrology
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Byline AffiliationsNational Centre for Engineering in Agriculture
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