In developed nations, at least in the cities and most towns, we take it for granted that when we turn on a tap, water will flow…. When we flip a switch, electricity springs to our command. However this is not the reality for many communities around the world, where water is from non-mains sources and electricity may be non-existent.
Conventional automatic irrigation systems are designed to operate with pressurised water from the mains, and are run by mains electricity, and because of this are not suited to implementation in areas where these are not available, whether due to being in an isolated location, or one without the financial ability to install such infrastructure as mains water and power.
Dr. Bernard Omodei faced this situation during his ongoing work with Trees For Life, when trying to work out how to provide irrigation to young trees planted in locations where no mains water or power was available. So, this innovative South Australian developed his own irrigation system, named Measured Irrigation, which basically operates on rainwater and sunlight. Measured irrigation uses tank water, which may hold rainwater, bore water or greywater and the pump is operated by solar panels.