Geosynthetic material irrigation system

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention pertains to irrigation systems used for agricultural purposes, more particularly to irrigation systems that supply water to large areas, and most particularly to irrigation systems for agricultural purposes that can supply water to large areas of turf or row crops.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

#FIG. 1 is a cut-away side view of an embodiment of the composite material of the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a transparent view of the embodiment of the invention of FIG. 1 including the water distribution system.

#The invention, as embodied herein, comprises an economical, easily installed irrigation system useable for a wide variety of agricultural products over large areas. The system is designed to provide irrigation to an area without the necessity of digging trenches or holes in order to install the system. A sheet construction method is used to install the system on top of large areas of land to be irrigated. Almost any type of agricultural product can then be placed atop the system, making it extremely simple and economical to install.

#The materials used in the system are also very easily obtained and low-cost. As used herein, the term geosynthetic refers to a man-made material, preferably made of rubber or plastic, that is used to improve the properties of soil. These materials are typically manufactured in sheet form. The term geomembrane refers to geosynthetic materials that are preferably thin sheets of rubber or plastic and may function as a liquid or vapor barrier. The term geotextile refers to a geosynthetic material made of woven or non-woven synthetic fibers that is porous to liquid flow, both across and within the plane of the material. These terms are further described in chapter one of the reference book Designing With Geosynthetics by Robert M. Koerner, published by Prentice Hall, 1990, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

#The system incorporates two layers of geosynthetic material having both a non-cohesive, porous material and a water distribution system between the layers of geosynthetic materials. As further described below, the geosynthetic materials are relatively low-cost, off-the-shelf type items, a large variety of low-cost water distribution systems can be used and are also readily available. The non-cohesive, porous material can be selected to be very low-cost, easily obtained materials such as sand or gravel. Due to the simplicity of installation of the present invention along with the low-cost of the materials useable within the system, the present invention may provide irrigation to large areas at significantly lower cost than current commercial irrigation systems.