]The Bucket Test is a way of determining how well your irrigation system distributes water but also confirms the depth of the irrigation. Achieving a high level of distribution uniformity (>0.8) means that all plants/crops under irrigation are getting the same amount of irrigation.
Providing evidence of good farming practises requires good record keeping and is needed for farm environmental plan (FEP) audits. The Bucket Test provides a valuable insight into your irrigation system’s performance and is also evidence you can submit with you FEP.
There are several practical resources available to assist you, including guidance specifically focused on fixed grid irrigation.
Irrigation NZ promotes the use of this Bucket Test App which is available to download from Google Play or the App Store. This App now supports solid set irrigation systems from the drop down list.
Search “bucket test” and look for this icon:
Irrigation NZ also publish informative guidelines specific to fixed grid and solid set irrigation. Click here to download a copy.
There are many qualified service providers available to perform Bucket Tests for you, but if you want to do these yourself, attending a short Irrigation NZ workshop would be valuable.
The Water-Insight IMS cloud platform is also a great tool to assist you in providing documentation and records. For example, the sprinkler “operating time summary reports” can now be printed to show the irrigation schedule for each sprinkler.
Of course, IMS can be used to also show rainfall and soil moisture data. Please click here or get in touch for further details.
Irrigation NZ also publish informative guidelines specific to fixed grid and solid set irrigation.
The Bucket Test is a way of determining how well your irrigation system distributes water but also confirms the depth of the irrigation. Providing evidence of good farming practises requires good record keeping and is needed for your farm environmental plan (FEP) audits.