Demand-Integrated Network Control Solution

By combining the Operations Automation and Network Control solutions, the control of the entire network of channels is improved further so that the achievable delivery capacity is optimised and the delivery of water to farmers can be made almost on-demand.

Overview

Flexibility and responsiveness to farmers’ needs are the hallmarks of an irrigation district that is focussed on customers. Imagine being able to deliver water within an hour or two of a farmers request. Imagine being able to deliver day or night at any hour without increasing your costs. Imagine being able to deliver simultaneously to more farmers than is currently possible. Imagine being able to deliver high and consistent flows to farmers while at the same time eliminating outfalls at the ends of the channels.

With the Demand-Integrated Network Control solution, farmers enter and manage their water delivery requests through a website called Customer Connect. As soon as a request is entered, the software immediately checks the farmer’s usage and any other rules and regulations necessary, and then calculates whether the channel network can deliver the water. The request is then confirmed to the farmer or adjacent time slots offered for immediate selection. At the same time, demand peaks and troughs are smoothed and orders linked to better utilise the channel’s capacity and to deliver to more farmers simultaneously.

At the delivery time, the farmer’s automated service point opens and all of the regulating gates along the length and breadth of the channel system coordinate to supply just the amount of water needed by the farmer at the requested flow rate.

With this level of flexibility and responsiveness, farmers are back in the driving seat. Confident of water delivery, they can increase productivity.

Combining the automated coordination of FlumeGates along the length of the channel in the Network Control solution with the demand smoothing of the Operations Automation solution ensures that the channel capacity cannot be exceeded even in times of high water need.

The result is that the whole channel system behaves with nearly the same responsiveness and efficiency as a pipe but without the high cost of piped networks.

Features and Benefits

Water delivered nearly on-demand

Instead of rigid irrigation schedules like rotations, water can be delivered almost immediately it is requested at any point in the channel system. This is because the full demand of all farmers and the capacity of all channels in the channel system is known and all control gates and service points are fully automated.

More water

By eliminating the outfalls that are common in channel operation, more water remains available in the river or in storage for irrigation at another time. And farmer service points automatically close when the exact amount of water has been delivered, eliminating over-watering and runoff.

Fairer, better service

Farmers are back in control, able to reliably get the water they need, when they need it and with far less effort. All farmers receive the same quality of service: high, consistent flows on request, regardless of whether they are towards the beginning or end of the channel system.

Higher productivity

When water is available when the crop needs it, productivity improves. And with a better service, farmers can be more confident that higher investments in crops will be rewarded. Additionally where gravity irrigation is used on-farm, high, consistent flows to farms means quicker surface irrigations, less nutrient leaching through infiltration and less plant shutdown from waterlogging. The net result is higher crop productivity using less water.

Improve safety

With complete automation, dangerous sites or sites that are difficult to reach are no longer a problem, improving the safety of your staff.

Better environmental outcomes

By eliminating runoff, denutrification, polluted drain water and salinification are all reduced reducing costs and helping the environment.

Reduced risk

The risk of overtopping is reduced because water demand, actual use, and automatic control are fully integrated. Risk to channel damage or damage caused by flooding is reduced.

Components

The Standalone solution is made up of modular TCC^® technology:

FlumeGate™

Rubicon’s FlumeGates are combination overshot flow measurement and control gates used to automatically regulate flow or water level at the head of a channel, at the tail or any regulating structure along the channel. FlumeGates provide accurate flow measurement, precise motor control, power supply and radio telecommunications, fully integrated in a single device.

Radio Network

Rubicon’s engineers will design and install a communication system that will enable the inter-communication between FlumeGates along the length of the channel and the remote monitoring of all field equipment from the control centre.

NeuroFlo®

NeuroFlo Network Control is the software that determines the
response of each FlumeGate, and coordinates the propagation of flow information up (or down) the channel.

SCADAConnect®

SCADAConnect is Rubicon’s SCADA software designed specifically for irrigation. It provides the ability to monitor and manage all field devices, with comprehensive alarm management and the ability to do sophisticated trend analysis.

Network Visualisation

The Network Visualisation software function pack provides a visual, schematic representation of the irrigation network and a dynamic summary analysis of the operating behaviour. It contains a complete definition of all channel sections, all control gates and meters, their capacities and the connections between them.

SlipMeter™

Rubicon’s SlipMeters are combination undershot flow measurement and control gates designed for use at farm entry points or smaller channel offtakes. SlipMeters use Sonaray® measurement technology, which was developed by Rubicon specifically for measuring flows in open channels. Sonaray uses the transit-time principle applied to multiple planes of acoustic transducers to calculate the flow.

Customer Connect

The dedicated web portal provides the ability to communicate directly with farmers, even 24 hours a day. Farmers can manage their water delivery requests and receive immediate response, putting them back in control of irrigation. They can also manage water usage and receive messages or information bulletins by SMS, fax or email according to their preference.

Orders, Rotations & Scheduling

This software function pack automates the collection and management of water delivery requests. Farmers can place, delete or modify requests 24 hours a day.

Rights & Compliance

This function pack checks water delivery requests are within farmers’ rights and checks compliance with any government or other stakeholder requirements.

Tariffs, Rates & Invoicing

Whatever your tariff structure, this function pack can reflect it, whether made up of water usage, property size or farm assets, combinations of fixed or variable costs, or one-off or regular charges. Then have the data sent to your current accounting package.

Automatic Delivery

The Automatic Delivery function pack automates the scheduling of water deliveries, and then sends a message (via SCADAConnect) to pre-program SlipMeters to automatically open and close the gate at the planned time.