A smart capillary barrier-wick irrigation system for home gardens in arid zones

• Published in: Irrigation science 2020-05, Vol.38 (3), p.235-250
• Main Authors: Al-Mayahi, A., Al-Ismaily, S., Al-Maktoumi, A., Al-Busaidi, H., Kacimov, A., Janke, R., Bouma, J., Šimůnek, J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Aquatic Pollution; Arid regions; Arid zones; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Climate Change; Cycles; Cylinders; Diameters; Drying; Environment; Evaporation; Field tests; Gardens; Gardens & gardening; Irrigation; Irrigation systems; Irrigation water; Life Sciences; Moisture content; Original Paper; Root-mean-square errors; Sand; Silt loam; Soil; Soil dynamics; Soil investigations; Soil layers; Soil water; Storage; Substrates; Sustainable Development; Three dimensional models; Two dimensional models; Variance analysis; Waste Water Technology; Water conservation; Water Industry/Water Technologies; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Wetting
• ISSN: 0342-7188; 1432-1319
• DOI: 10.1007/s00271-020-00666-3

New water-conserving irrigation technologies are vital in arid countries. We investigated the effects of (i) soil substrates made of Smart Capillary Barrier Wick (SCB-W), consisting of silt loam blocks surrounded by sand-sheathes and irrigated with a sand wick cylinder (WC) as compared to a control (homogenous soil irrigated by the same wick system, HW), (ii) WC diameters (2.54 cm vs. 1.27 cm), and (iii) 2-cm sand mulch layer on soil–water dynamics during wetting–drying cycles. Field experiments with pots and HYDRUS (2D/3D) modeling were performed in two consecutive phases (with and without sand mulch). Analysis of variance at p