Head Loss in Manifolds Or Trickle Lateral: Simplified Approach

Uniform distribution of water along a lateral or manifold is one of the primary objectives of a pressurized irrigation system designer. To design a system that will meet this objective requires establishing a relationship between pressure and flow rate. This requires knowledge of the head loss along the lateral or manifold. Total head loss from a lateral with sufficiently close outlets is considered. A simple analytical solution that gives a relationship between relative discharge and length, which, in turn, can be used to calculate the total head distribution along the lateral or manifold, is developed. Values calculated using this simplified expression compared very well with results of other, more complicated expressions. The approcah presented herein requires only the relative discharge at the two ends of a lateral or a manifold.