Irrigation and Drainage

Pumps and their Value to Man:
History shows that the lifting pump has been used by man since the fourth century before Christ; for many present-day enterprises this ancient form of pump is inconvenient and impracticable, and hence it has been replaced in many cases by more modern types, such as rotary and centrifugal pumps . In these forms, rapidly rotating wheels lift the water and drive it onward into a discharge pipe, from which it issues with great force. There is neither piston nor valve in these pumps, and the quantity of water raised and the force with which it is driven through the pipes depends solely upon the size of the wheels and the speed with which they rotate.

Irrigation, or the artificial watering of land, is of the greatest importance in those parts of the world where the land is naturally too dry for farming. In the United States, approximately two fifths of the land area is so dry as to be worthless for agricultural purposes unless artificially watered. In the West, several large irrigating systems have been built by the federal government, and at present about ten million acres of land have been converted from worthless farms into fields rich in crops. Many irrigating systems use centrifugal pumps to force water over long distances and to supply it in quantities sufficient for vast agricultural needs. In many regions, the success of a farm or ranch depends upon the irrigation furnished in dry seasons, or upon man's ability to drive water from a region of abundance to a remote region of scarcity.

The draining of land is also a matter of considerable importance; swamps and marshes which were at one time considered useless have been drained and then reclaimed and converted into good farming land. The surplus water is best removed by centrifugal pumps, since sand and sticks which would clog the valves of an ordinary pump are passed along without difficulty by the rotating wheel.

FIG. - Centrifugal pump with part of the casing cut away to show the wheel.

FIG. - Agriculture made possible by irrigation.

FIG. - Rice for its growth needs periodical flooding, and irrigation often supplies the necessary water.