JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

Emitter clogging for using agricultural wastewater increases the operating costs and reduces the motivation of farmers. The new method to reduce the emitters clogging is the use of a Merus ring that does not have the problems of chlorination and pickling methods, such as pollution and high cost. Due to the importance of agricultural wastewater use, this study investigated the emitters clogging and the effect of Merus ring on the emitter's efficiency in a trickle irrigation system. The treatments including irrigation water (well water and wastewater) and modified water (irrigation with Merus ring and irrigation without Merus ring), as the main factor and the emitters type treatment including Irritec (D₁), Corona (D₂), Axios (D₃), Netafim (D₄), Polirood (D₅), and Paya (D₆) as the sub treatments were performed in three replications. The results showed that the agricultural wastewater caused the emitters clogging in irrigation water and modified water treatments, but over time, the Merus ring had a positive effect on the evaluation parameters of the emitters. For agricultural wastewater, in the first and last irrigation periods, the average discharge of emitters with the Merus ring was 0.05 and 0.33 Liter per hours, respectively, more than the treatment without the Merus ring. The uniformity coefficient of emitters in the first and last irrigation periods, in well water with the Merus ring, was 0.31%and 6.67%, respectively, more than that in the well water without the Merus ring. Also, the uniformity coefficient of emitters in the first and last irrigation periods in agricultural wastewater with the Merus ring was 0.85% and 12.10%, respectively, more than that in agricultural wastewater without the Merus ring. At the end of irrigation period, the results showed that Netafim and Axios had the best and weakest efficiency, respectively. In general, the emitters used in the treatment of well water with the Merus ring had the highest discharge and the emitters used in the treatment of wastewater without the Merus ring had the lowest discharge.

In this research, a regression model was introduced to study the mechanisms of the formation of gullies in the Quri Chay watershed, northern Ardebil province (Moghan Plain); this was done through investigating the effective factors of geo-environment and soil characteristics on the gully erosion. For this purpose, 17 gullies were randomly assigned through field surveys. Mapping and recording the morphometric of the selected gullies were performed by GPS positioning after seven rainfall events. The catchment-upper area of each gully was determined and its related physical parameters were calculated in order to investigate the effect of the physical characteristics of the catchment. Soil sampling was also done at the head of each gully at two different depths (30-30 and 60-30 cm) in order to determine the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil. According to measurement of the morphometric characteristics of the gully and soil characteristics through multivariate analysis of the data, a suitable regression model was developed for the longitudinal development of erosion after determining and calculating environmental factors related to the upper catchment of the gullies. The results of the correlation matrix between the longitudinal extension of the gully and the factors investigated indicated that the factors related to the physical characteristics of the beside watershed (area, perimeter, main stream length and average width of the catchment, main stream slope), gully morphometric characteristics (mean of gully cross section, the gully expansion area, and the gully average width) and soil characteristics (geometric mean of the aggregates diameter, lime, organic matter percentage) affected  the formation and expansion of gully erosion in the Quri chay catchment. The results of regression analysis showed that the longitudinal expansion of the gully was mostly influenced by the area around each gully and the percentage of organic matter, which resulted in pressure on the rangeland and the loss of vegetation, which increased runoff and accelerated the lengthwise expansion of the gully. Also, the  increase in the area of the beside catchment the gullies is known as one of the factors influencing the length of the gully, due to the high volume of runoff entering the head cut section; so it is necessary to manage  runoff in the gully with the large beside catchment.

Study of Turbidity Current, as one of the most important phenomena affecting the sedimentation in the reservoirs of dams, is essential. Since most of the research studies have been conducted under experimental conditions on rigid beds, the effect of erodible bed and the formation of the bed form on the turbidity current specifications is not yet clear. Therefore, in this Research, the study of the turbidity current in two conditions of rigid and mobile bed was conducted in order to determine water entrainment specification and the effective hydraulic parameters. The results showed that water entrainment changes depended on the variation of bed roughness and the type of bed form. Also, water entrainment of turbidity current was initially reduced by about 25% with the change in the bed shear stress, relative to the rigid bed, due to formation of small bed forms; then, it increased by about 30%, forming the larger bed forms; finally it decreased with increasing the flow strength and removing the bed forms. In addition, comparison of the results of the present study with previous research showed that the formation of bed forms increased water entrainment in a constant Richardson number up to 50%.

Labyrinth weirs are the economic structures to increase the weir output efficiency in limited widths, which can be seen in the plane f trapezoidal and triangular forms. These weirs with a hydraulic load and fixed width pass the more discharge in comparison to other type of weirs. In this study, labyrinth weirs trapezoidal in plane form were investigated. The experiments were performed on 27 laboratory models with 9 different discharge rates and a total of 243 tests. The results showed that, in all of the composite trapezoidal labyrinth weirs, the ratio of discharge coefficient to H_t/p (H_t: Total hydraulic load and p: weir length) weir length was increased at first; after reaching the maximum rate, it started to decrease. According to the suggested general relation, the utmost impact on discharge coefficient resulted from the cycle number and  H_t/p relation. Creating new labyrinth on the wing of the weir led to the increase of the effective length; as a result of it, the discharge rate increased in a specific amount of H_t/p. Also, the discharge through a trapezoidal labyrinth weir with the semicircular planform was better than the square; the square, in turn, was better than the simple trapezoidal weirs.

Despite the great importance of potassium applied as a fertilizer in the orange orchards, no information is currently available regarding the rate of potassium release from rhizosphere and the bulk soils of such trees. The objectives of this study were to investigate the weathering of micaceous minerals and their non-exchangeable K release and also, to examine the status of different forms of K in the rhizosphere and bulk soils of orange orchards with different ages in Darab, Fars Province. Samples were, accordingly, taken from the rhizosphere and bulk soils of orange orchards with the ages of 5, 10 and 20 years; also, virgin soils (control) were obtained from three soil depths including 0–30, 30–60, and 60–100 cm. Water soluble, exchangeable and nonexchangeable K, and the clay mineralogy of the soils were determined. The results demonstrated that the concentration of soluble and exchangeable K in the cultivated soils was less than that in the control soil and that the concentration of nonexchangeable K in the soils of 20-year-old orchards was less, than that in other soils. Soluble and exchangeable K values decreased with depth in all soils. Clay mineralogy investigation also showed that the quantity of illite decreased and that of smectite and illite-smectite increased as the age of orange trees was raised. With increasing the age of orange trees and root development, more potassium could be taken up from soil and more changes occurred in the soil minerals. In order to avoid a very high decline in the reserved K in the soils under orange trees, particularly in the orchards with older trees, K fertilization has to be taken more seriously based on the soil testing results.

Nonlinear weirs are regarded as important hydraulic structures for water level adjustment and flow control in channels, rivers and dam reservoirs. One example of non-linear weirs is shaped as curved-zigzag. The crest axis of these weirs is non-linear. At a given width, the crest length is greater than that of the conventional linear weirs. Thus, they achieve a higher flow rate for an identical hydraulic load. This research experimentally focused on the discharge coefficient and flow rate of curved weirs with three different curve radii in two triangular linear and zigzag shapes. The discharge coefficients of these weirs were comparatively explored in terms of the hydraulic performance as a function of the total hydraulic load to weir crest height ratio (hd/P) and curvature angle (θ) (or curve radius). The results indicated that for the same hydraulic load, the increase of θ (the decrease in curve radius) led to a lower discharge coefficient; this was first because of the increased topical rise of water level, and then the more indirect path with a greater curvature through which the flow had to transport. Both factors could negatively affect the water discharge coefficient. In practice, the runoff coefficient at a weir with a curve radius of R/w=1.25 was approximately 8.5% greater than that of a weir with a curve radius of R/w=0.75 under a hydraulic load of 0.2.

Fruits and citrus wastes are generated in the food industry in large quantities. Their management in Iran, as one of the major hubs of fruits and citrus production, is of great importance. In this study, the biochar samples were prepared from pomegranate, orange and lemon peel waste produced in a juice factory using the pyrolysis process in the range of 400-500 °C; then their efficiency for zinc adsorption from an aqueous solution was investigated. The kinetic and isotherm data of zinc adsorption were fitted by the linear and nonlinear forms of the Langmuir and Frendlich isotherm models and the first-order and second-order pseudo-kinetics models. The results showed that under the experimental conditions applied, the maximum amount of zinc absorption by biochars derived from pomegranate, orange and lemon peel was 2.42, 1.83 and 3.17 mg/g, respectively. The results of adsorption isotherm models also showed that the use of the linear form could lead to a completely different interpretation, as compared to the original form of the model. Based on the linear forms, the Langmuir isotherm was the best; meanwhile, according to the non-linear forms, the Freundlich isotherm was the best model to describe the adsorption data. In addition, the reaction kinetics indicated that both original and linear models had the same results, and the data were better fitted by the pseudo-second order model.

Integrated simulation of water resources systems is an efficient tool to evaluate and adopt various options in macro-policies and decision-making procedures that are in line with the sustainable development of drainage basins. One of the drainage basin management policies is to enhance the efficiency of agricultural land use. Considering the complicated function of the drainage basin elements and their interaction with each other due to water discharge fluctuations caused by various factors such as climate change, the evaluation of these policies is of great importance. Given the low irrigation efficiency in Iran, the present study was aimed to evaluate the effects of management scenarios (including long-term irrigation efficiency increased up to 20% with 5% intervals) and discharge fluctuation scenarios (including 5% and 10% decrease in the average basin inflows) on the reliability and vulnerability of water resources system in Dez Basin. The integrated scenarios were simulated in the WEAP model. The scenarios were separately simulated for the Dez irrigation network and all farmlands across Dez Basin. According to the results, reliability was decreased by 5.69 and 18.89% in the scenarios with 5% and 10% decrease in the average basin inflows, respectively. Furthermore, the irrigation efficiency of 20% in the scenario considering the current inflows ended up with the reliability of 73.58%. Moreover, in the scenario involving 5% decrease in the average basin inflows, the reliability was increased by 3.8% with an increasing efficiency of 20%; with 3.8% and 5.7%, there was an increasing efficiency of 15% and 20% in all farmlands, respectively. In the scenario consisting of 10% decrease in average basin inflows, the reliability was increased by 1.91%, 3.8%, and 5.7% with the increasing efficiency of 10%, 15%, and 20%; on the other hand, with, these were 3.8% 9.46%, and 13.2% with increasing efficiency in all farmlands, respectively. In all scenarios, the vulnerability was found to fluctuate between 25% and 31%, which was systematically analyzed.

Morning glory spillway is one of the spillways that used to passing of flood from high to low level. This spillway is used in the reservoir dams that are placed in narrow valleys and in many locations with high slope in reservoir walls. In the Morning glory spillways, the vortex flow can reduce discharge, discharge coefficient and the performance of spillway. The zigzag spillway, as another type, is introduced as a proper option for compensating the problem of passing maximum possible flow rate, usually encountered by spillways. In the present study, the experimental results of a physical model were used to develop a hydraulic design with squire and circle inlet and analysis method for Labyrinth Morning Glory Spillway. The analysis of experimental data in circle and square inlet showed, that increase in length of spillway and zigzag, causes decrease in the discharge coefficient. Finally the result of effect spillway inlet on flow rate demonstrate that discharge coefficient in square inlet is more than circle, whereas without vortex breaker.

In this study, the discharge coefficient of the circular side orifices was predicted using a new hybrid method. Combinations made in this study were divided into two sections: 1) the combination of two algorithms including Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) and providing the PSOGA algorithm 2) using the PSOGA algorithm in order to optimize the Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS) network and providing the ANFIS-PSOGA method. Next, by identifying the parameters affecting on the discharge coefficient of the circular side orifices, 11 different combinations were provided. Then, the sensitivity analysis conducted by ANFIS showed that the Froude number and the ratio of the flow depth to the orifice diameter (Ym/D) were identified as the most effective parameters in modeling the discharge coefficient. Also, the best combination including the Froude number (Fr), the ratio of the main channel width to the side orifice diameter (B/D), the ratio of the orifice crest height to its diameter (W/D) and the ratio of the flow depth to the orifice diameter (Ym/D) for estimating the discharge coefficient was introduced. For this model, the values of Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (R) were obtained 0.021, 0.020 and 0.871, respectively. Additionally, the performance of the ANFIS-PSOGA method was compared with the ANFIS-PSO and ANFIS methods. The results showed that the ANFIS-PSOGA method for predicting the discharge coefficient was the superior model

Stilling basins have been used as an energy dissipater downstream of hydraulic structures. Dimensions of the stilling basins depends on hydraulic jump characteristics. In this research diverging hydraulic jump with an adverse slope using baffle blocks and an end sill have been studied experimentally and effect of diverging angle of the walls, adverse bed slope and baffle blocks on the hydraulic jump characteristics have been evaluated. Tests have been done for rectangular stilling basin with different bed slopes (0.025-0.05-0.075) and different diverging angle (3-5-9) degree and using baffle blocks. Discharge and Froude numbers considered to range from 39 to 81.7 lit/s and 4.44 to 8.56 respectively. Results have been indicated that the baffle blocks have been reduced sequent depth ratio and relative length of the jump 12% and 18% respectively (in comparison to diverging stilling basin with adverse slope without block). It was also found that baffle blocks and end sill could considerably improve the general condition and features of an expanding hydraulic jump with an adverse slope and could stabilize the position of this type and bi-stable situation of the flow.

In this research, by using FLOW3D, the performance of non-linear (arced) piano key (PKW-NL) in plan and linear piano key weir (PKW-L), with equal length of weir, was compared. Results showed that nonlinearity of the weir caused 20% increase in the discharge coefficient. Investigating the velocity contours for these two weir models also showed that maximum velocity within the PKW-NL weir structure is about 30% lower than the PKW-L weir. Also, the performance of non-linear piano key weir was evaluated under inward (PKW-IC) and outward (PKW-OC) curvatures to the channel. Results showed that in the case of PKW-IC weir, the discharge coefficient was increased by 8% as compared to the PKW-OC weir. Investigating the pressure contours for these two weir models also shows that the average pressure within the PKW-IC weir structure is about 5% higher than the PKW-OC weir. This increase in pressure leads to a decrease in the speed and better distribution of flow over the weir keys.

Furrow irrigation is the most common method of surface irrigation. However, the accurate estimation of the soil water infiltration equation is the most important challenge for evaluating this method of irrigation. In this study, a fast and simple method that is named soil intake families and presented by USDA-NRCS (RSIF), evaluated for estimation of the Kostiakove-lewis infiltration equation parameters based on soil information. Also, this method was developed based on irrigation condition and considering soil characteristics (D-RSIF). Two treatments including constant and variable inflow discharge were tested with 4 repetitions and different irrigation phases including advance, storage and recession were simulated by developed Zero-Inertia model using RSIF and D-RSIF methods. The results showed that using the zero- inertial model, the difference between simulated advance times and simulated runoff were significant at 5% level for D-RSIF and RSIF methods. For variable inflow discharge, the error of estimating runoff volume was 10%, 6%, 12% and 41% for RSIF, D-RSIF, multilevel calibration and two-point methods respectively. Also, the irrigation scheduling error, based on soil physics characteristics (RSIF) was 14% that means consuming water more than required.

Today, the rising surface temperature of the planet and its effects on the water cycle have attracted the attention of many researchers. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of climate change on the Tajan (the upstream of Shahid Rajaei dam) catchment area. In order to study the output of CanESM2 model, the SDSM method was used to estimate the magnitude of the data. Flow discharge changes in Shahid Rajaei Dam were simulated using the weather data of Kiasar synoptic station and the temperature and precipitation changes were simulated using the climate scenarios of RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 for the 2016-2066 period. Also, the effect of different scenarios on the outflow of the Soleiman Tangeh hydrometric station was evaluated by SWAT hydrologic model. The results showed that the annual precipitation would be decreased by 58% and the air temperature would be increased by 14% under RCP2.6 scenario. Also, in the RCP8.5 scenario, precipitation would be decreased by 59.5% and the temperature would be increased by 21%. Peak discharge for RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios would be increased by 4% and 5.7%, respectively, and the average annual discharge might be decreased by 16% and 16.5% in the future period (2016-2066). Therefore, it can be planned by the investigation of conditions for cropping patterns in the downstream to consider the environmental impacts for future periods.

Wetting pattern in a trickle irrigation system is one of the most important characteristics that should be taken into consideration for designing the irrigation systems. Improving the dimensions of the wetting pattern will increase the water use efficiency and irrigation systems. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of rice husk and its biochar application on the wetting pattern in a silty clay soil under surface trickle irrigation. A box with the length of 200, the width of 50 and the height of 100 cm was used. To easily fill and empty the model, it was filled up to a height of 50 cm. The rice husk and its biochar were added to the soil at the rates of 0, 1 and 2 mass percentages based on a factorial arrangement of the treatments in a completely randomized design with three replications. Biochar was prepared in a special furnace at 500°C without oxygen. The experiments were done with a flow rate of 4 liters per hour with the irrigation time of 3 hours. The results of the analysis of variance showed that the organic treatments increased the soil water content in the range of field capacity to a permanent wilting point; the highest increase was observed for the biochar 2% treated soil. Also, the addition of rice husk and biochar in the silty clay soil reduced the horizontal advance and increased the vertical advance wetting pattern.

The flow fields over a trapezoidal labyrinth weir (two-cycle) and a piano key weir were simulated using Flow3D, studying the impact of each model on the flow field in the weirs and the coefficient of discharge in comparison with the available experimental data. Moreover, the models were investigated experimentally in a 12.5 m long, 0.3 m wide, and 0.4 m high rectangular flume under clear-water conditions. The results showed good agreement between the data from the numerical and experimental models. The piano key weirs had a higher coefficient of discharged compared with labyrinth weirs. The coefficient of discharge was observed to increase by 26 percent as the height of the PKW was increased by 50 percent (from 5 to 7.5 cm). This increase was 24 percent for labyrinth weirs.

Few studies have been done regarding the role of the raindrop in the hydrodinamic mechanism of soil erosion. In this study, rainfall simulation experiments were conducted to evaluate the role of raindrop in runoff discharge, sediment concentration and hydraulic properties of flow under four slope gradients (5, 10, 15 and 20%) in a clay soil using a 90 mm.h^-1 rainfall intensity to reach the steady state flow. Soil sample was packed into the erosion flume with 0.3m× 0.4m × 4 m in dimensions and tested under two soil surface conditions:  one with raindrop impact and one without raindrop impact. The results showed that runoff discharge, sediment concentration, flow depth, shear stress, stream power, Reynolds number and runoff velocity under without raindrop impact condition were significantly lower than those in the condition  with the raindrop impact with a factor of 0.62 to 3.54, 0.08 to 11.83, 0.91 to 0.96, 0.26 to 3.25, 0.52 to 4.45, and 0.36 to 3.27, 0.23 to 0.79 times, respectively; on the other hand, the Darcy Wysbach, Chezy and Manning coefficients were increased significantly under without raindrop impact (P<0.01). Flow velocity was the key hydraulic parameter strongly affecting the hydraulic properties. These findings indicated the importance of raindrop impact in the detachment rate of soil particles through the change of the hydraulic characteristics. This study also revealed the key role of raindrop impact on the runoff hydraulic characteristics, as well as particle detachments rate in rills. Information about the role of raindrop impact is a substantial step in modeling the rill erosion. Therefore, elimination of raindrops impact, especially in the steep slopes, with the conservation of natural vegetation cover can sufficiently prevent runoff production as well as the particle detachment rate.

Water supply at a desired rate at any time to meet the water requirements regardless of river discharge must be considered in the general design of intakes provided that the needs do not exceed the river flow. Due to the lack of necessary information in this field and the importance of sediment transport to the lateral intakes at river bends, this study aimed at understanding the mechanism of this phenomenon. To this end, the combined effect of convergence and divergence in lateral intakes on the sediment transport was investigated. According to the results, the diversion discharge to the intake was increased by converging the laboratory flume. By narrowing and converging the end of the flume, the diversion discharge was increased further, so that as the flume was converged to the size (b/B) of 0.75 and 0.5, the diversion discharge to the intake was increased by 13.6% and 75%, respectively. This could be connected to narrowing, flow obstruction and backflow to the intake. In contrast, different results were found by diverging the flume. In other words, the inflow to the intake was decreased by diverging the flume. As the flume end was diverged, the diversion discharge was decreased further. By diverging the flume to the size (b/B) of 0.75 and 0.5, the diversion discharge to the intake was decreased by 21.9 and 31.8%, respectively. The average diversion discharge to the intake at 30, 60 and 90º was 13.2, 15.2 and 11.5%, respectively. By converting the flume to the size (b/B) of 0.75 and 0.5, the diversion sediment to the intake was increased by 18.5 and 71.4%. In contrast, by diverging the flume to the size (b/B) of 0.75 and 0.5, the diversion sediment to the intake was decreased by 35.4 and 49.9%, respectively.

Due to the increasing number of small crops, the system of irrigation without a pump can be an economical way. Therefore, in this research, the effects of the type of droplet and the height of water supply system utilization on the characteristics of water distribution (discharge, dispersion uniformity coefficient (CU) and coefficients of variation of discharge) were investigated. In this research, the pressure functions of 1, 2, 3 and 4 meters and three irrigation repeats were investigated; also, the discharge characteristics of jet pots of 2 and 8 nozzles, easy dripper and netafim were addressed. The results indicated that at 1 m pressure, drippers of pots of 2 and 8 nozzles with the uniformity coefficients of distribution were equal to 89.39 and 99.30%, and the discharge rate was 3.60 and 3.62 liters per hour at a pressure of 2 m. An easy-drain drip with a discharge rate of 3.85 L / h and a uniform distribution of 99.44%, at a height of 3 and 4 m, the droplets of the netafim with an outlet discharge were 3.87 and 3.97 liters per hour and the uniformity coefficients of 99.32 and 99.47 percent had the best broadcast conditions. According to these significant differences (P <0.05), it can be concluded that at pressures less than 2 m of jar droplets and at more than 3 m, netafim and Easy Dipper types could  have better leakage due to pressure regulators. In general, each of the four types of emitters produced a uniform dispersion and the optimum discharge at different pressures.

Today, to reduce the risks of contaminants, new remediation techniques have been focused on low-cost and environmentally friendly manners. Given the frequency of access, inexpensiveness and good physical and chemical properties, biochar has a high potential for the remediation of water pollutants. In this paper, the efficiency of chitosan engineered biochar (Bc-Ch) and pristine biochar (Bg-Bc) prepared from sugarcane bagasse biomass (Bg) in the Cd²⁺ removal in aqueous solution was investigated. To this aim, the effects of contact time, adsorbent dosage and solution pH on cadmium removal were evaluated by adsorption isotherms and Kinetic models. The results indicated that the Langmuir isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model could be well fitted with the process of cadmium biosorption. The maximum adsorption capacities of Bc-Ch, Bg-Bc and Bg ,according to Langmuir model, were found to be 32/78 mg/g, 11/57 mg/g and 2/23 mg/g, respectively. For these absorbents, the pseudo-second-order kinetic model showed the best fit to the experimental adsorption data. This study, therefore, indicated that the chitosan engineered biochar could be used as an effective, low-cost, and environmentally-friendly sorbent to remediate heavy metals contamination in the environment.