Irrigation and Drainage Systems 6: 83-84, 1992

Book review Keller, J. & R.D. Bliesner. 1990. Sprinkle and Trickle Irrigation. (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990), ISBN 0-442-24645-5, 652 pages, US$ 89.95. The primary scope of the book is to provide a comprehensive, state-of-the-art reference on the design principles and management techniques of sprinkle and trickle irrigation systems. This book differs from other handbooks on irrigation design, in that it focuses on the conceptualization and the synthesis of the entire design process. The textbook fully discusses the individual components, providing descriptive and quantitative information on each of the components. With this knowledge in mind, and having a good survey of the physical and social resources of the site for which a system design has to be made, the handbook provides through a large number of design examples the philosophy and art of how the individual components can be selected and fit together into an appropriate system that will meet the project goals and fit the available resources. The authors clearly underline that for a given project several feasible systems can be designed, and that it is the engineer's task to select the 'best design' in terms of some criteria, such as least cost, maximum production, or the easiest to management. The textbook covers the selection, design, and some management aspects of both sprinkle and trickle irrigation systems for agricultural crop production. It takes advantage of the many features they have in common and presents the step-by-step procedures necessary to design complex as well as simple systems. It also provides basic background material related to their attributes and a rational process for selecting the best symstem type and configuration. The book has been purposely written for designers in the first place, not for researchers or students. Therefore, it was the authors intention to provide approaches for conceptualizing, applying and synthesizing the basic underlying principles and concepts to develop system design packages. In this regard the text is unique, offering a straightforward systematic approach for designing pressurized irrigation systems. The textbook fully meets this objective. The practical use of the book is strongly enlarged by the extensive use made of comprehensive sample calculations. These are used to demonstrate the concepts and provide direct guidance for realistically applying the design procedures. The early sample calculations are limited in scope, but as the text progresses in the respective sprinkle and trickle irrigation sections, they become more and more comprehensive. In addition the book is a mine of information and provocative ideas that encapsulate completely the present state of knowledge of pressurized irrigation system design. The sample calculations are developed in such a simple, logic and straight forward way that the reader can transfer them easily in a computer programme, using spreadsheet or BASIC as computer code. The advantage of leaving it to the user to decide which computer code to be used to automate the design process, offers the flexibility that the user can adjust the design approaches provided in the book to the specific conditions of his working environment. It is the authors believe, which I fully subscribe, that there is no unique blueprint for the design process. A successful designer should avoid get-

84 ting set on any prescribed procedure. Designers need to be inventive and maintain an open mind throughout the design process, making use only of the hardware and software tools which fit him best, enabling the design team to come to the 'best' design with the least engineering costs. This spirit is continuously reflected throughout the book, maximising the chance that the reader got infected by the irrigation engineering's art. This comprehensive book on the system design of pressurized irrigation systems is well written, produced and illustrated, and will be a reference work for many years, for designers in the first place. The principles and concepts of irrigation system design are however also presented in such a manner that it certainly will enhance student learning, understanding and motivation. Realizing that potential readers use either the SI (the International System of Units) or the English units, where relevant in the text, the authors provided the conversion factors at the level of the equations. In addition, in each of the sample calculations ample referencing to the equations, explained in the text, is made.

Center for Irrigation Engineering Leuven, Belgium

Jan Feyen