Pumping station regulation in on-demand irrigation networks using strategic control nodes

• A proper management of irrigation networks leads to make efficient use of water and energy resources.
• The proposed methodology is based on the measurement of the pressure head in a few strategic nodes.
• The use of three strategic nodes was the most adequate solution to estimate the pressure of the reminder hydrants.
• Using the proposed methodology, energy savings were obtained in comparison with manometric regulation.

The development of tools focused on the management of branched irrigation networks is important for the efficient use of water and energy resources. The objective of this paper is to develop and validate a methodology and an Optimum Regulation of Pumping Stations (ORPS) tool to estimate the pressure head at all the nodes of an irrigation network based on the pressure head at a few strategic nodes of the network that are used for pumping station control. Once the pressure head at all nodes in the network is estimated, the pressure head at the pumping station can be adjusted to supply the exact pressure necessary to ensure the minimum pressure in the most restrictive of the open nodes of the network. This paper is based on the generation of demand scenarios, which aim to represent a whole range of discharges and not only the design discharge. The tool developed with this methodology has been applied in two on-demand irrigation networks with manometric regulation located in Castilla—La Mancha region (Spain). Moreover, in the analyzed irrigation networks, the use of three strategic nodes estimated the pressure of the reminder hydrants highly accurately. Thus, increasing the number of control points would not improve the accuracy of the estimates and would increase the complexity of the automation system. Using the proposed methodology, energy savings of nearly 3–5% were obtained relative to the average energy consumed for manometric regulation.