Tile drainage
Encyclopedia
Tile drainage is an agriculture practice that removes excess water from soil subsurface. Whereas irrigation
is the practice of adding additional water when the soil is naturally too dry, drainage brings soil moisture levels down for optimal crop growth. While surface water can be drained via pumping and/or open ditches, tile drainage is often the best recourse for subsurface water. Too much subsurface water can be counterproductive to agriculture by preventing root development, and inhibiting the growth of crops. Too much water also can limit access to the land, particularly by farm machinery. In terms of access, most modern agriculture depends on the usage of large machinery—tractors and implements—to prepare the seedbed, plant the crop, carry out any cultivation and applications during the growing season, and ultimately, to harvest the crop. Operating most machinery in excessively wet conditions may result in soil degradation because of excessive soil compaction, and inhibit the operation of the machinery (i.e., "getting stuck").
By adding drain tile, the water table is effectively lowered, and plants can properly develop their roots. The lack of water saturation allows oxygen to exist in the soil around the roots. Drain tile prevents the roots from being under the water table during wet periods that could cause excessive plant stress. By removing excessive water, crops use water they have more effectively.
An increase in crop yield can be simply summarized by the following: Simply by forcing the plants to have more developed roots, the plants can more effectively absorb more nutrients and water.
The same principal is employed by containers that hold house plants: they have drain holes in the bottom to allow oxygen to the roots, and prevent soil saturation. By placing drain tile under a field in a grid style layout, the same effect can be employed on a several hundred acre field.
Soil type greatly affects the efficacy of tile systems, and dictates the extent to which the area must be tiled to ensure sufficient drainage. Sandier soils will need little, if any, additional drainage, whereas soils with high clay contents will hold their water tighter, requiring tile lines to be placed closer together.
and Pliny
have described tile drainage systems, in 200 BC and the first century AD, respectively. According to the Johnston Farm website, tile drainage was first introduced to the United States in 1838, when John Johnston brought the practice from his native Scotland to his farm in Seneca County, New York. Johnston labored to lay 72 miles (115.9 km) worth of clay tile on 320 acres (1.3 km²). The effort paid off by increasing his wheat yield from 12 bushels per acre to 60 bu/acre. Johnston, "Father of American Tile Drainage", continued to advocate tile drainage throughout his life, attributing his success as a farmer to the formula "D,C, and D" (dung, credit, and drainage).
The expansion of drainage networks was an important technical aspect of Westward Expansion in the 19th century. Although land in the United States was parceled out in accordance with the Public Land Survey System
as established by the Land Ordinance of 1785
, development, especially of agricultural land, was often limited by the rate at which it was made capable for cultivation. For example, although Iowa was made a state in 1846, maps depicting land ownership show below-average population densities in the northwestern region as late as the 1870s, a corner of the state that today is still noted for its high water table and numerous lakes, marshes, and wetlands.
States throughout the region faced similar limits to agricultural intensification. Many states offered government incentives to improve land for farming. For example, legislation in Indiana prompted an Act of Congress in 1850 that provided for swamplands to be sold at a discount to farmers on the condition that they drain the land and bring it into agricultural productivity. To facilitate this process, most states set up government agencies to oversee and regulate the installation of tile drainage systems. Even today, ballots for elections in rural America often include candidates for local drainage supervisory boards.
The decades following the American Civil War
saw rapid expansion of drainage systems. For example, historical literature from Ohio notes that in the year of 1882, the number of acres drained was about equal to the area of land drained in all previous years. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps
contributed to the tile network throughout the Midwest, much of which is still in use.
The introduction of plastic tile served to reduce both the cost of tile installation, as well as the amount of labor involved. Rather than set individual sections of cement tile end-to-end in the trench, tile installers had only to unroll a continuous section of lightweight, flexible tile line. Towards the end of the twentieth century, when large, four-wheel-drive tractors became more common on American farms, do-it-yourself tile implements appeared on the market. By making tile installation cheaper and allowing it to be done on the landowner's schedule, farmers are capable of draining localized wet spots that may not create enough of a problem to merit more costly operations. In this way, farmers may enjoy increases in crop yield while saving on the capital costs of tile installation. Perhaps the most useful implement in drainage history was James B. Hill
's Buckeye Traction Ditcher, which laid drainage tiles at a record pace. Hill's ditching machine drained the Great Black Swamp
in Ohio, vast stretches of Louisiana, and Florida's swampland.
Ecologically, the expansion of drainage systems has had tremendous negative effects. Hundreds of thousands of wetland species experienced significant population declines as their habitat was increasingly fragmented and destroyed. Although market hunting within the Central Flyway
was a contributing factor in the decline of many waterfowl species' numbers in the early decades of the twentieth century, loss of breeding habitat to agricultural expansion is certainly the most significant. Early maps of midwestern states depict many lakes and marshes that are either nonexistent or significantly reduced in area today. Channelization, a related process of concentrating and facilitating the flow of water from agricultural areas, also contributed to this degradation.
In bypassing the natural flow of water from the surface to the water table, drainage systems often prevent the natural filtration of water provided by soils and wetlands. Thus, drainage systems pose a threat to surface water sources by directly depositing water laden with fertilizers, eroded soil, agrochemicals, and other types of agricultural runoff pollutants. In very flat areas, where the natural topography does not provide the gradient necessary for water flow, "agricultural wells" can be dug to provide tile lines sufficient outlet. In these cases, it is the groundwater that stands to be polluted by unfiltered tile output.
Intensive Livestock Operations (ILO) have led to challenges of livestock effluent disposal. Livestock effluent contains valuable nutrients, but the misapplication of these materials can lead to serious ecological problems, such as nutrient loading. Injecting effluent directly into the ground is one method employed by manure applicators to improve nutrient uptake. Drainage tiles may increase injected manure seepage into surface waterways from manure injection because liquid manure seeps through soils and then drains out of the field and into waterways via drainage tiles.
Today, a number of state and federal initiatives serve to reverse habitat loss. Many programs encourage and even reimburse farmers for interrupting the drainage of localized wetholes on their property, often by breaking tile intakes or removing the tile completely. Landowners are often partially or fully compensated for forfeiting the ability to grow crops on this land. Such programs and the cooperation of landowners across the country have had significant positive effects on the populations of a wide variety of waterfowl.
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
is the practice of adding additional water when the soil is naturally too dry, drainage brings soil moisture levels down for optimal crop growth. While surface water can be drained via pumping and/or open ditches, tile drainage is often the best recourse for subsurface water. Too much subsurface water can be counterproductive to agriculture by preventing root development, and inhibiting the growth of crops. Too much water also can limit access to the land, particularly by farm machinery. In terms of access, most modern agriculture depends on the usage of large machinery—tractors and implements—to prepare the seedbed, plant the crop, carry out any cultivation and applications during the growing season, and ultimately, to harvest the crop. Operating most machinery in excessively wet conditions may result in soil degradation because of excessive soil compaction, and inhibit the operation of the machinery (i.e., "getting stuck").
Increased crop yields
Most crops require specific soil moisture conditions, and do not grow well in wet, "mucky" soil. Even in soil that isn't "mucky" the roots of most plants will not grow much deeper than the water table. Early in the growing season when water is in ample supply, plants are small and don't require much water. During this time, the plants do not need to develop their roots to "reach" for the water. As the plants grow and use more water during the growing season water becomes more scarce. During this time, the water table starts to fall. Plants suddenly need to start developing roots to reach to the water. During dry times, the water table can fall faster than the plants can develop roots to "reach" for the water. This can seriously stress the plants.By adding drain tile, the water table is effectively lowered, and plants can properly develop their roots. The lack of water saturation allows oxygen to exist in the soil around the roots. Drain tile prevents the roots from being under the water table during wet periods that could cause excessive plant stress. By removing excessive water, crops use water they have more effectively.
An increase in crop yield can be simply summarized by the following: Simply by forcing the plants to have more developed roots, the plants can more effectively absorb more nutrients and water.
The same principal is employed by containers that hold house plants: they have drain holes in the bottom to allow oxygen to the roots, and prevent soil saturation. By placing drain tile under a field in a grid style layout, the same effect can be employed on a several hundred acre field.
Plumbing of drain tile
In a tile drainage system, a sort of "plumbing" is installed below the surface of agricultural fields, effectively consisting of a network of below-ground pipes that allow subsurface water to move out from between soil particles and into the tile line. Water flowing through tile lines is often ultimately deposited into surface water points—lakes, streams, and rivers—located at a lower elevation than the source. Water enters the tile line either via the gaps between tile sections, in the case of older tile designs, or through small perforations in modern plastic tile.Soil type greatly affects the efficacy of tile systems, and dictates the extent to which the area must be tiled to ensure sufficient drainage. Sandier soils will need little, if any, additional drainage, whereas soils with high clay contents will hold their water tighter, requiring tile lines to be placed closer together.
History of Tile Drainage
Both CatoCato the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...
and Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
have described tile drainage systems, in 200 BC and the first century AD, respectively. According to the Johnston Farm website, tile drainage was first introduced to the United States in 1838, when John Johnston brought the practice from his native Scotland to his farm in Seneca County, New York. Johnston labored to lay 72 miles (115.9 km) worth of clay tile on 320 acres (1.3 km²). The effort paid off by increasing his wheat yield from 12 bushels per acre to 60 bu/acre. Johnston, "Father of American Tile Drainage", continued to advocate tile drainage throughout his life, attributing his success as a farmer to the formula "D,C, and D" (dung, credit, and drainage).
The expansion of drainage networks was an important technical aspect of Westward Expansion in the 19th century. Although land in the United States was parceled out in accordance with the Public Land Survey System
Public Land Survey System
The Public Land Survey System is a method used in the United States to survey and identify land parcels, particularly for titles and deeds of rural, wild or undeveloped land. Its basic units of area are the township and section. It is sometimes referred to as the rectangular survey system,...
as established by the Land Ordinance of 1785
Land Ordinance of 1785
The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress on May 20, 1785. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress did not have the power to raise revenue by direct taxation of the inhabitants of the United States...
, development, especially of agricultural land, was often limited by the rate at which it was made capable for cultivation. For example, although Iowa was made a state in 1846, maps depicting land ownership show below-average population densities in the northwestern region as late as the 1870s, a corner of the state that today is still noted for its high water table and numerous lakes, marshes, and wetlands.
States throughout the region faced similar limits to agricultural intensification. Many states offered government incentives to improve land for farming. For example, legislation in Indiana prompted an Act of Congress in 1850 that provided for swamplands to be sold at a discount to farmers on the condition that they drain the land and bring it into agricultural productivity. To facilitate this process, most states set up government agencies to oversee and regulate the installation of tile drainage systems. Even today, ballots for elections in rural America often include candidates for local drainage supervisory boards.
The decades following the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
saw rapid expansion of drainage systems. For example, historical literature from Ohio notes that in the year of 1882, the number of acres drained was about equal to the area of land drained in all previous years. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
contributed to the tile network throughout the Midwest, much of which is still in use.
Advances in Drainage Technology
Throughout the twentieth century, the technology of tile installation remained similar to the methods first used in 1838. Although cement sections later replaced the original clay tiles, and machines were used to dig the trenches for the tile lines, the process remained quite labor-intensive and limited to specialized contractors.The introduction of plastic tile served to reduce both the cost of tile installation, as well as the amount of labor involved. Rather than set individual sections of cement tile end-to-end in the trench, tile installers had only to unroll a continuous section of lightweight, flexible tile line. Towards the end of the twentieth century, when large, four-wheel-drive tractors became more common on American farms, do-it-yourself tile implements appeared on the market. By making tile installation cheaper and allowing it to be done on the landowner's schedule, farmers are capable of draining localized wet spots that may not create enough of a problem to merit more costly operations. In this way, farmers may enjoy increases in crop yield while saving on the capital costs of tile installation. Perhaps the most useful implement in drainage history was James B. Hill
James B. Hill
James B. Hill was an American inventor.Hill worked as a drainage tiler in northwestern Ohio in the 1870s and 1880s, during which time he devised a machine that he later named the Buckeye Traction Ditcher...
's Buckeye Traction Ditcher, which laid drainage tiles at a record pace. Hill's ditching machine drained the Great Black Swamp
Great Black Swamp
The Great Black Swamp, or simply Black Swamp, was a glacially caused wetland in northwest Ohio, United States, extending into extreme northeastern Indiana, that existed from the end of the Wisconsin glaciation until the late 19th century...
in Ohio, vast stretches of Louisiana, and Florida's swampland.
Social and Ecological Effects of Tile Drainage
Unfortunately, the ability for farmers to install their own tile can be problematic. First of all, private installations may reduce the ability of local drainage supervisory boards to regulate tile installation, which in some areas of the country requires proper documentation before a contractor can continue. This leads to the second potential conflict, the unintentional interruption of existing tile networks. Most "do-it-yourself" tile plows do not dig trenches but rather split the soil enough to squeeze the tile line in; thus, a farmer would not be aware if he breaks a line of tile that might serve his neighbors, as well (Mutual tile lines are often dictated by topography rather than land ownership, and the location of many old, but still effective, tile lines are unknown.). The potential for across-the-fence disputes are obvious.Ecologically, the expansion of drainage systems has had tremendous negative effects. Hundreds of thousands of wetland species experienced significant population declines as their habitat was increasingly fragmented and destroyed. Although market hunting within the Central Flyway
Flyway
A flyway is a flight path used in bird migration. Flyways generally span over continents and often oceans.-Flyways of the Americas:*Atlantic Flyway*Central Flyway*Mississippi Flyway*Pacific Flyway*Allegheny Front...
was a contributing factor in the decline of many waterfowl species' numbers in the early decades of the twentieth century, loss of breeding habitat to agricultural expansion is certainly the most significant. Early maps of midwestern states depict many lakes and marshes that are either nonexistent or significantly reduced in area today. Channelization, a related process of concentrating and facilitating the flow of water from agricultural areas, also contributed to this degradation.
In bypassing the natural flow of water from the surface to the water table, drainage systems often prevent the natural filtration of water provided by soils and wetlands. Thus, drainage systems pose a threat to surface water sources by directly depositing water laden with fertilizers, eroded soil, agrochemicals, and other types of agricultural runoff pollutants. In very flat areas, where the natural topography does not provide the gradient necessary for water flow, "agricultural wells" can be dug to provide tile lines sufficient outlet. In these cases, it is the groundwater that stands to be polluted by unfiltered tile output.
Intensive Livestock Operations (ILO) have led to challenges of livestock effluent disposal. Livestock effluent contains valuable nutrients, but the misapplication of these materials can lead to serious ecological problems, such as nutrient loading. Injecting effluent directly into the ground is one method employed by manure applicators to improve nutrient uptake. Drainage tiles may increase injected manure seepage into surface waterways from manure injection because liquid manure seeps through soils and then drains out of the field and into waterways via drainage tiles.
Today, a number of state and federal initiatives serve to reverse habitat loss. Many programs encourage and even reimburse farmers for interrupting the drainage of localized wetholes on their property, often by breaking tile intakes or removing the tile completely. Landowners are often partially or fully compensated for forfeiting the ability to grow crops on this land. Such programs and the cooperation of landowners across the country have had significant positive effects on the populations of a wide variety of waterfowl.
See also
- DrainageDrainageDrainage is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from an area. Many agricultural soils need drainage to improve production or to manage water supplies.-Early history:...
- Drainage equationDrainage equationA drainage equation is an equation describing the relation between depth and spacing of parallel subsurface drains, depth of the watertable, depth and hydraulic conductivity of the soils. It is used in drainage design....
- Drainage system (agriculture)Drainage system (Agriculture)An agricultural drainage system is a system by which the water level on or in the soil is controlled to enhance agricultural crop production.-Classification:Figure 1 classifies the various types of drainage systems...
- Watertable controlWatertable controlWatertable control is the practice of controlling the water table in agricultural land by subsurface drainage with proper criteria to improve the crop production.- Description and definitions :...
- Salinity controlSalinity controlSoil salinity control relates to controlling the problem of soil salinity and reclaiming salinized agricultural land.The aim of soil salinity control is to prevent soil degradation by salinization and reclaim already salty soils...
by subsurface drainage - Drain spacing equationGroundwater energy balanceThe groundwater energy balance is the energy balance of a groundwater body in terms of incoming hydraulic energy associated with groundwater inflow into the body, energy associated with the outflow, energy conversion into heat due to friction of flow, and the resulting change of energy status and...
using the energy balance of groundwater flow - Drainage researchDrainage researchDrainage research is the study of agricultural drainage systems and their effects to arrive at optimal system design.- Aspects to be covered :...
External links
- This site http://www.waterlog.info gives free downloads of articles and software on land drainage