Drainage of Agricultural Lands - Practices of Irrigation and On-farm Water Management - page 333

Soil surface

Fig. 9.3 Buried pipe drain
system ( a ) drain position ( b )
water-table position during
operation

Backfill

Gravel
envelope

Drain
pipe

(a) Drain placement

WT

(b) WT position

Deep open drain Buried (subsurface) pipe drain

1. Causes loss of cultivable land, that otherwise
could be used for crops

1. Causes no loss of cultivable land

2. Restricts the use of machines 2. Does not restrict the use of machines

3. It requires a large number of bridges or
culverts for road crossing and access to the
field

3. Does not require

4. Requires frequent maintenance 4. Maintenance requirements are very

limited

5. Cost of construction is lower compared to
the cost of buried pipe system

5. Total cost of the system is higher
compared to deep open drain due to
material cost, equipment, and skilled
manpower involved

6. Effective and/or economic life is short 6. Effective and/or economic life is long

7. Allows for removal of much larger volumes
of water in a shorter time span than
subsurface drainage

7. Allows for removal of lower volumes
of water in a shorter time span