Engineering Commons^™

Testing Of Two 10-Inch Insertion Propeller Flow Meters, Stuart Styles, Sierra Layous, Jack Evans

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

With funding from the US Bureau of Reclamation, California – Great Basin Region (Region 10), the Cal Poly Irrigation Training & Research Center (ITRC) conducted flow measurement accuracy testing on two 10-inch insertion (strap-on saddle) McCrometer Water Specialties propeller flow meters. Both meters were new and recently purchased by Westlands Water District. One of the meters is shown in Figure 1. Testing was performed at the ITRC Water Resources Facility (WRF) using the ITRC volumetric tank as the standard flow rate measurement for all tests. The ITRC volumetric tank was calibrated with the NIST¹-traceable ITRC gravimetric tank using …

Magnetic Flow Meter Testing, Stuart Styles, Sierra Layous, Jack Evans

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

With funding from the US Bureau of Reclamation, California – Great Basin Region (Region 10) and the California Department of Water Resources (Agreement No. 4600011908), the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Irrigation Training & Research Center (ITRC) conducted testing on 4-inch and 10-inch spool-type magnetic flow meters ( also known as mag meters and electromagnetic flow meters) from six manufacturers (12 meters total). The testing was performed to assess the effects of various hydraulic conditions on meter accuracy.

Testing Of Two 10-Inch Insertion Magnetic Flow Meters, Stuart Styles, Sierra Layous, Jack Evans

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

With funding from the US Bureau of Reclamation, California – Great Basin Region (Region 10), the Cal Poly Irrigation Training & Research Center (ITRC) conducted flow measurement accuracy testing on two 10-inch insertion (saddle-mount) McCrometer Mc Mag3000 magnetic flow meters. The meters were two of 360 new meters that were purchased by Westlands Water District. One of the meters is shown in Figure 1. Testing was performed at the ITRC Water Resources Facility (WRF) using the ITRC gravimetric (weigh) tank as the standard flow rate measurement for all tests. The ITRC gravimetric tank has a NIST¹-traceable uncertainty of …

Magnetic Flow Meter Testing And The Effect Of Upstream Chemical Injection On Meter Performance, Stuart Styles, Sierra Layous, Jack Evans

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

With funding from the US Bureau of Reclamation, California – Great Basin Region (Region 10), the Cal Poly Irrigation Training & Research Center (ITRC) performed testing on magnetic flow meters to examine issues related to upstream chemical injection. Two sets of tests were completed:

• Meter Accuracy Testing – This testing determined the flow measurement accuracy of ten (10×) meters. Previously, all the meters had been installed in irrigation pipelines immediately downstream of chemical injection and showed significant fluctuations in flow measurement readings.

• Upstream Chemical Injection Testing – This testing quantified the variability of flow rate measurements at various …

Testing Of Two 30-Inch Magnetic Flow Meters, Stuart Styles, Jack Evans, Sierra Layous, Chad Tenbrink

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

With funding from the US Bureau of Reclamation, California – Great Basin Region (Region 10), the Cal Poly Irrigation Training & Research Center (ITRC) conducted flow measurement testing on two (2×) 30inch spool-type magnetic flow meters in March of 2020. Figure 1 shows the meters installed at the testing facility. The testing determined the accuracy for each test meter in a straight pipe configuration across a range of typical water velocities (0.4 to 3.8 feet per second). Testing was performed at the ITRC Water Resources Facility (WRF) using the ITRC volumetric tank as the standard flow rate measurement for all …

Testing Of A 10 To 48-Inch Insertion Magnetic Flow Meter, Stuart Styles, Jack Evans, Sierra Layous, Chad Tenbrink

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

With funding from the US Bureau of Reclamation, California – Great Basin Region (Region 10), the Cal Poly Irrigation Training & Research Center (ITRC) conducted flow measurement testing on one (1×) 10 to 48-inch Seametrics EX21x insertion magnetic meter (“Seametrics”, “test meter”) in April 2020. Figure 1 shows the meter installed at the testing facility. The testing determined the accuracy of the test meter in a straight pipe configuration across a range of typical water velocities (0.5 to 5.8 feet per second). Testing was performed at the ITRC Water Resources Facility (WRF) using calibrated measurements from a 30-inch Krohne Enviromag …

Restoring Lake Urmia: Moving Beyond A Uniform Lake Level (2-Page Summary), Somayeh Sima, Dory Rosenberg, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Sarah E. Null, Karin M. Kettenring

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

More than 5 million people live near Lake Urmia in northwestern Iran, one of the world's largest hypersaline lakes. Over the past two decades, the lake has lost 95% of its volume, lake level has dropped more than 7 m, and lake restoration has gained widespread interest. The government seeks a uniform "ecological" target lake level of 1274.1 m above sea level to lower salinity below 240 gL^-1 and recover brine shrimp (Artemia spp.) and flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus).

We have synthesized over 40 years of available data, defined 8 ecosystem services for human health, water quality, ecology, recreation, and …

Reasons Of Acceptance And Barriers Of House Onsite Greywater Treatment And Reuse In Palestinian Rural Areas, Rehab A. Thaher, Nidal Mahmoud, Issam A. Al-Khatib, Yung Tse Hung

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

© 2020 by the authors. In the last twenty years, house onsite wastewater management systems have been increasing in the West Bank's rural areas. The aim of this research was to reveal, in the context of providing onsite GreyWater Treatment Plants (GWTPs) for wastewater management in the rural communities in Palestine, the local population's perceptions, in the sense of acceptance of and barriers towards such a type of wastewater management, so as to figure out successes, failures and lessons. The data collection tool was a questionnaire that targeted the households served with GWTPs. The findings show that 13% of the …

Overview And Uncertainty Analysis For An Irrigation Flow Measurement Facility, Kyle Feist, Zachary Markow, Stuart Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Accurate flow measurement is critical for modern water resource management. At the irrigation district level, instantaneous flow rates must be well-measured at key bifurcation points to reliably meet downstream demand in open channel systems while also minimizing diversions. Furthermore, good flow measurement at each delivery point is a pre-requisite for successful volumetric water billing. Accuracy and repeatability are important characteristics of good flow measurement. Maximizing these traits requires periodic calibration to a common standard.

This paper presents an overview of calibration efforts and the engineering background behind an active flow measurement facility at the Irrigation Training and Research Center at …

Flow Rate Equation For Suppressed And Submerged Sluice Gates, Charles M. Burt, Albert J. Clemmens, Kyle Fesit

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

In irrigation projects, the control and measurement of flow rates at key bifurcation points is essential. Sluice gates at the heads of irrigation canals are used by operators to control the flow into these canals. In US irrigation districts, canal operators often estimate flow rate at the heads of canals by “experience” unless they have a flume downstream. For example, they may open a gate a certain number of turns for a change in flow rate, regardless of upstream and downstream conditions. Theoretical estimates of discharge are often inaccurate in field situations. Problems include varying and uncertain discharge coefficients, entrance …

Using Infrared Radiometry Thermometer For Irrigation Management Of Dry Edible Beans In Western Nebraska, Isabella Presotto Possignolo

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Proper irrigation management requires farmers to determine the right timing and amount to irrigate. Soil water sensors are one of the most popular sensor-based approach used by farmers to decide when and how much to irrigate. However, installation and retrieval of soil water sensors require excavation of soil and can be challenging. Other than soil water sensors, there are plant-based water stress monitoring technologies that are less soil disturbing such as infrared radiometry thermometer (IRT). Using canopy temperature measured from IRT, researchers can calculate thermal-based indices such as crop water stress index (CWSI) for many crops around the world. Yet …

Volumetric Flow Measurement For Irrigation District Turnouts, Charles M. Burt, Daniel J. Howes, Stuart Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Technical assistance related to irrigation district turnout flow/volumetric measurement is provided by ITRC on behalf of California Dept. of Water Resources, USBR, and BIA irrigation projects. Throughout that work, it was apparent there was a need to organize well-established information as well as to provide new insights into irrigation flow measurement. The target audiences are irrigation districts and others who want to improve measurement accuracy for irrigation flow rates and volumetric deliveries to meet regulations, improve the efficiency of ditchriders (system operators), and provide equity and transparency to farmers and managers. The focus of this publication is on turnouts (deliveries) …

Discharge Coefficients For Rectangular Suppressed And Submerged Sluice Gates, Charles M. Burt, Albert J. Clemmens, Kyle Feist

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Two sizes of sluice gates were tested in submerged conditions with a variety of flow rates and gate openings. A new equation was developed for flow rate prediction.

Development And Application Of A Performance And Operational Feasibility Guide To Facilitate Adoption Of Soil Moisture Sensors, Meetpal S. Kukal, Suat Irmak, Kiran Sharma

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Soil moisture sensors can be effective and promising decision-making tools for diverse applications and audiences, including agricultural managers, irrigation practitioners, and researchers. Nevertheless, there exists immense adoption potential in the United States, with only 1.2 in 10 farms nationally using soil moisture sensors to decide when to irrigate. This number is much lower in the global scale. Increased adoption is likely hindered by lack of scientific support in need assessment, selection, suitability and use of these sensors. Here, through extensive field research, we address the operational feasibility of soil moisture sensors, an aspect which has been overlooked in the past, …

Soil Structure And Texture Effects On The Precision Of Soil Water Content Measurements With A Capacitance-Based Electromagnetic Sensor, Jasreman Singh, Derek M. Heeren, Daran Rudnick, Wayne Woldt, Geng Bai, Yufeng Ge, Joe D. Luck

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

The physical properties of soil, such as structure and texture, can affect the performance of an electromagnetic sensor in measuring soil water content. Historically, calibrations have been performed on repacked samples in the laboratory and on in situ soils in the field, but little research has been done on laboratory calibrations with intact (undisturbed) soil cores. In this study, three replications each of disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected from two soil texture classes (Yutan silty clay loam and Fillmore silt loam) at a field site in eastern Nebraska to investigate the effects of soil structure and texture on …