Saline Water for Irrigation

Published on by in Technology

How can I treat saline water from a well to use it for irrigation? 

I work on a project in North Kenya (Marsabit county), which focusses on drought-resistant approaches and coping mechanisms.
A couple of the wells we drilled have saline water.

Which treatment method for saline well water gives best results and is economical?

Can you share some studies about treating saline water for irrigation?

I would also appreciate suggestions for alternative treatment methods.

Taxonomy

16 Answers

  1. Hi

    I am also facing a similar problem in Gokwe, Zimbabwe. the area has a number of artisan wells and these present an opportunity to enhance livelihoods through irrigated crops. however they seem to have high saline levels. I am looking for a cost effective way that is applicable to low income communities or at least a nudge in the right direction.

  2. Mr. von Heimendahl, our technology is a "glove fit" for your situation. We use 99-100% solar energy to yield distilled water (bacteria free), solid salt and as a bonus our design creates a space with partial shade perfect for growing in desert conditions. Our technology is patented, as simple to operate as a deep well and you can see more at www.suns-river.com . Our operating history has been feeding saline well water and Reverse Osmosis reject brine and we convert these to distilled water and dry salt. We have a variety of versions and our process creates water equivalent from 1.6 - 5.0 meters of annual rainfall over our shaded space. If you would like more use the 'Contact' button on our website. 

  3. Dear Clemens, what is the salinity level of the brackish ground water? Check our website www.biosaline.org we are an applied research center and work with various drought and salt tolerant crops that can be irrigated with brackish water. The scientist responsible for each project is also identified so you can get in touch with him. We also have a ongoing research on an IAAS farm that has dial unit for the production of vegetables,  then the bring is used for fish production and then for irrigating halophytes (salt tolerant crops), so that the brine is  ot discharged into the environment with negative consequences 

  5. Sir:  We produce desalination equipment specifically designed for desalinating ground water. This equipment is based on the systems we use for desalination of sea water, systems used by the Australian government in several locations. Our system is contained inside a 40ft. ISO shipping container and can delivered to a bore water extraction site and commissioned usually in two days.

    My direct email is - pettman@soleco-technology.com

    www.soleco-technologies

     

    Please give us a call or email.

    Regards,

    Hugh.

  8. Dear Clemens Von,

    1. There are so many practices for utilizing saline water in irrigation. Dilution of it through canal water, mixing, blending and alternate use of these water with canal water and many more.
    2. keeping an optimal humidity level in our irrigated soil and try to maintain it can reduce the negative effects of water salts
    3. Dilution of ground water with fresh river water. Such methods are used in Central Asia.
    4. Rain water harvesting is the cheapest source to improve ground water quality. It could be ponds, recharge pits, recharge wells, percolation trenches, afforestation, etc. as per the site specific demand and availability of rain water. Comprehensive Watershed Management is the only cheapest solution under Indian Agro climatic conditions. 
    5.  Magnetic treatment of irrigation water: Its effects on vegetable crop yield and water productivity.
    6. HYDROSMART™ (Ionized Pty Ltd, Australia) is an electronic technology which treats irrigation water to optimize plant productivity. It frees nutrients by using only electrical frequencies. This technology also facilitates the removal of excess sodium and serves to maintain a favorable pH in the root zone. It has gained acceptance as a mainline water-treatment option in a wide range of agricultural and non-agricultural settings. The process used is Ion Cyclotron Resonance (ICR), which acts on hydrated minerals in irrigation water. To achieve this, an oscillating electrical field is generated by a circuit at specific frequencies. The electrical field is established through two antenna windings around a plastic pipe. The pipe is the same diameter as used for irrigation. This electrical field interacts with the earth's magnetic field to produce resonance, which is a vibrating system or external force that drives another system to oscillate with greater amplitude. Ion cyclotron waves were identified in 2013 by NASA's solar probe spacecraft called WIND as the main cause for the heating of solar wind as it rises from the sun's surface. Before this discovery, it was unclear why solar particles would heat up, instead of cool down, when speeding away from the sun's surface. Hydrated (partially dissolved) oppositely charged ions are associated with each other as minerals in irrigation water. Under the influence of resonance, these ions are propelled in opposite directions and therefore become separated from each other, effectively increasing hydration. Similarly, since water molecules possess a pair of equal and oppositely charged separate poles, they can be reoriented by the field and affected directly, again increasing hydration. Beneficial growth outcomes are consistent, so long as other strong electromagnetic fields (EMF) are kept distant, and only the earth’s magnetic field is present.

     

    https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aMR7cmsns2o/maxresdefault.jpg

     

    https://www.researchgate.net/deref/http%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1111%2Fj.1600-051X.1993.tb00366.x%2Fabstract

    https://www.researchgate.net/deref/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS0378377409000900

    https://www.researchgate.net/deref/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS0378377409000900

     

  9. Il y a deux problématiques dans l'approche de ce projet

    L'eau salée qui entre, entrera toujours, donc vous ne résoudrez pas cette problématique

    la purification de l'eau polluée entrainera des déchets (liquide ou masse de matière) qui injectés dans l'environnement ou dans un réseau, polluront.

    Il vaut mieux chercher à  fermer l'entrée de l'eau salée ou abandonner ces deux puits. En plus l'entrée d'eau salée dans une veine d'eau potable va polluer d'autres veines  

     

    There are two issues in this project approach

    Salt water entering, will always be, so you will not resolve this problem

    the purification of polluted water will lead to waste (liquid or material mass) who injected in the environment or in a network, polluront.

    It is better to close the entrance to salt water or abandon these two wells. Besides the entrance of salt water into a vein of water will pollute other veins  

     

     

    1 Comment

  10. This is part of am email from Mark Tonkins which you may find useful.

    mark@hope-resources.co.uk

    there is a huge amount of interest in the principle and execution of the dRHS™ technology. (Dutyion™ Root Hydration System).

    I wrote to mark with this question

    I love the concept of being able to use poor quality water for irrigation and remember the DuPont product of quite some years ago now and the question that was asked at that time was along these lines: if you have poor quality water from which you are removing the water then you must be concentrating the pollutants in the water in the pipe network.

    How are you then disposing of this poorer quality water?

    Has there been much interest in the product?

    First question: Basically we do not alter the make-up of any water supply other than, as you rightly mention, concentrating pollutants by removing water from the mix.  The pollutants build up in the pipe and it is necessary to flush the pipes from time to time, before any salt or mineral crystals form.  There is no need for fresh water, just the original source water used as a ‘propellant’ to move pollutants along the length of the pipe and discharged into the original supply where they will mix back down to the ambient level.  The frequency will depend entirely on the rate at which any plants or natural ‘evaporation’ remove fresh water through the pipe walls.

    I am not sure of costs but this may be worth pursueing with Mark

    1 Comment

  12. We have developed an all-natural biotechnology process that manages water contamination including salinity and have desalinated mine pit water and seawater by 70%. See our website at www,earthsustainingsciences.com SABR Process page.

     

    We are happy to discuss varied all natural proven solutions as demonstrated on the page in more than 20 major projects instances globally.

    Dr Wayne Sampey

    Executive Director

    Earth Sustaining Sciences Group

  14. Let's first understand desired flow rate.  Then, we might consider a more passive approach: controlled evaporation/condensation.  Use Kenyan heat to evaporate clean (distilled) water from the saline water and collect the evaporate (a simple approach is the use of plastic sheets over the saline water with catch basins along the periphery (image a long tent) for the distilled water).

    Just a thought.

    1 Comment

  15. Hydrosmart water conditioners are made in Australia and work on charging salts by charging via resonance frequencies, thus without removing them it is enabling irrigation using saline water with good growth outcomes. Used as a low cost, low operational cost alternative to water sub 5,000 ppm instead of reverse osmosis by farmers, councils and individuals over many years with many good results. 

  16. Hello Clemens.

    You'll need to add a salt and brine tube to the lines, otherwise the ground will become so contaminated it will be useless. Try this web site www.waterproblems.net a US based irrigation company that has a tube called a care free, for removing salts etc from bore holes

    Gary

    1 Comment