AquaFlow3.

2UsersManual
November21,2012

DripIrrigationDesignAssistSoftware

ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page2




ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page3

TableofContents

Topic Page

WelcomeandGettingStarted.. 4
Introduction... 5
AquaFlow3.2DesignAssistSoftwarePlatform 8
DefaultBlockDesign..12
Customers,Projects,BlockDesignsandMainlineDesigns... 13
PrintingDesignsandProjects 15
DefaultBlockDesignReports.. 16
Conclusion.. 18

ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page4

WelcometoAquaFlow3.2,ToroslatestupdatetoitsDripIrrigationDesign
Software.AquaFlow3.2nowallowsuserstodesignmultislopedtelescoping
submains,andtochoosebetweenEnglishorSpanishlanguagesandEnglishor
metricunits.Inaddition,TorosnewThinwalldriplineissupportedinthisnew
versionwhichcomplementsAquaTraxxpremiumdriptapeandBlueLine
dripline.AsummaryofthecapabilitiesofAquaFlow3.2include:

NEW:SupportsTorosnewThinwalldripline
NEW:Multislopedtelescopingsubmains
NEW:Spanishlanguage
NEW:Metricunits
NEW:Improvedreportprintingoptions
NEW:Abilitytoimportandexportdesigns
Auniquedashboardformatwithtiledgraphs
Instantlygeneratedcolorcodedblockmapsthatdepictsystemuniformity
Easycomparisonoftwodifferentlateralselections
Pulldownmenusforeasyviewing
Multipleslopesinboththelateralandmainlineprograms
Choiceofmultiplesubmainandmainlinepipetypesandsizes
Lateralandsubmainflushingcalculations
Customizablereportsthatmaybesavedinmultipleformats

GettingStarted

AfterdownloadingthesoftwarefromToroswebsite,aUserAgreementwill
appear.InordertoapplytobecomeaRegisteredUser,theUser
AgreementmustbeAccepted.Onceaccepted,aninformationscreenwill
appearwhichmustbefilledoutandsubmittedtoTorotoapplytobecome
aRegisteredUser.InmostcasesyourRegistrationApplicationwillbe
viewedwithin48hours,andinmanycasesmuchsooner.Ifyour
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page5
applicationisapproved,youwillreceiveanemailinformingyouthatyour
RegistrationisapprovedandAquaFlow3.0isreadyforuse.
TolaunchAquaFlow3.2,clickontheToroAquaFlow3.2icononyour
desktop.AquaFlowwilllaunchandaDefaultDesignwillappearwith
lateral,submainandflushingselectionsalreadymade,alongwithoutput
values,graphsandacolorcodedUniformityMap.
AquaFlowisoptimizedfortheWindowsDisplaysetat100%(small,
default).IfthevaluesintheOutputscreendonotappearproperly,
navigatetotheWindowsControlPanelandsettheDisplayto100%,orgo
totheAquaFlowHelpmenuformoreinformation.
TheHelpMenualsoprovidesmanyoftheformulasusedtogeneratethe
outputcalculationsinAquaFlow,andwillidentifytheAquaFlowversionin
use.
YouwillbealertedtofutureupgradestoAquaFlowviatheemailaddress
providedduringregistration.YouwillnotberequiredtoUninstallandre
uploadtheprogramtoinstallroutineupgrades.
ToroAquaFlow3.2isCopyright2011byTheToroCompany.AllRights
Reserved.
Useoneofthreemethodstoenterinputs:
o Clickonthearrowbarand/orselectionboxnexttotheinputwindow.
o Enternumbersviathekeyboard.
o Placethecursorintheinputwindow,selectanitem,andthenusethe
mousetoscrollupordown.

Introduction
MicroIrrigation,alsocommonlycalleddripirrigation,isthefastestgrowing
irrigationtechnologyintheUnitesStates.Itwascommerciallyintroducedover
fourdecadesago,anditsusagehassincespreadto3.5millionacresofdiversified
farmlandthroughouttheUSasof2008(USDA,2008).Farmersadoptdrip
irrigationbecausetheircropsrespondwelltothespoonfeedingofwaterand
nutrientsdirectlytothecropsrootzone,andbecausevaluableresourcesare
conservedand/oroptimized.Thesebenefitsimprovefarmincomeandreduce
farmcostsenoughtopayfortheinvestmentquickly.Inaddition,runoff,wind
driftanddeeppercolationofirrigationwaterisminimized,andaccesstothefield
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page6
isimprovedcomparedtootherirrigationmethods.Figure1graphicallydescribes
thesebenefits.

Dripirrigationdiffersfromgravityandsprinklerirrigationinanumberofways.A
dripsystemconsistsofanetworkofplasticpipesandemissiondevicesthat
deliverpressurizedwaterdirectlytothesoilatalowpressureandlowflowrate.
Itistypicallyoperatedatfrequentintervals,andthedurationofoperationmaybe
adjustedtoaccomplishnumerouschangingobjectives.Sourcewaterisfilteredto
preventcloggingofdripsystememissiondevices,andchemicalinjectionsystems
areusedtoapplyfertilizers,cropprotectionmaterialsanddripsystem
maintenancechemicals.(Stetson,2011).Figure2showsaTypicalDripSystem
Layoutforfieldcrops(corn),row/vegetablecrops(lettuce),vineyards(grape
vines)andorchards(almondtrees).

Figure 1 - Benefits of Micro-Irrigation

ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page7
Althoughallirrigationsystemtypessharesomebasichydraulicprinciplesand
equipmentsuchaspumpsanddeliverypipe,therearealsodifferencesthat
requirespecializedknowledgefordesign,installation,operationandmaintenance
ofthesystems.Theprimaryjobofadripirrigationsystemdesigneristochoose
therighttypesandsizesofsystemcomponentstoensurethatthesystemapplies
wateruniformlytoeachplant,andsothatthesystemmaybeflushedand
maintainedtoensurealonglife.Priortotheavailabilityofsoftware,designers
manuallycalculatedfrictionlossandflowuniformity,orusedchartsand
nomographsdevelopedforthisspecificpurpose.Withtheintroductionof
consumercomputers,earlyversionsofdripirrigationdesignsoftwareautomated
manyofthesetasksandallowedahigherlevelofaccuracytobeachieved.
Today,dripirrigationdesignhasneverbeeneasierormoreaccurate.AquaFlow
3.2takesadvantageofrecentadvancementsincomputerprocessing,
programmingtechniquesanddisplayscreentechnologytooptimizedripirrigation
design.Designerscannowevaluatemoreselectionoptionsmorequicklyand
moreaccuratelythaneverbefore,thusimprovingthedecisionmakingprocessin
selectingdripirrigationsystemcomponents.Thiswillresultinbetter,morecost
effectivedripirrigationsystemperformance,andthusimprovedreturnonthe
investmentforthefarmer.
Figure 2 - Typical Drip System Layout
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page8
AquaFlow3.2DesignAssistSoftwarePlatform

AquaFlow3.2featuresauniquedashboardwhichallowsuserstheabilityto
viewchangestoinputsinstantaneously,ononescreen.Thisisincontrastto
otherdesignprogramswhichrequiretogglingbetweenscreenstoviewthistype
ofinformation.TheDashboardisorganizedintoeightareas:

PullDownMenus
ToolbarIcons
BlockDesignDescriptionandProjectSelection
Lateral:InputandOutput
SubMain:InputandOutput
Flushing:InputandOutputaccordingtoa)InletPressureandb)
FlushingVelocity
ColorcodedUniformityMapillustratingpercentflowdeviationfrom
average
Tiledgraphsshowingpressure,flow,elevationandvelocityinformation
vs.lateralorsubmainlengthofrun.

Figure3isascreencaptureofthedashboardthatappearsrightafterlaunching
theprogramfromthedesktopicon,andafterselectingtheChartTilefunction.
Figure 3 - AquaFlow 3.2 Dashboard at launch.
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page9

TheLateral,SubMain,andFlushingareasofthedashboardrequireinputfrom
thedesigner.Oncedataisentered,alloutputdata,includingtheUniformityMap
andtheTiledGraphs,areinstantlyupdatedwiththeresultsofthenew
calculations.Anoverviewofwhatthedesignermayviewanduseonthe
dashboardfollows.

Lateral:
o Input:ProductModel,Slopes,Length,InletPressure,SubMainPosition
o Output:Lateralflow,EmitterFlow,AverageFlow,SingleLateralEmission
Uniformity,TravelTime,Min/MaxEmitterFlow,MinimumPressure,
MaximumPressure,InnerDiameter,EmitterCoefficient,Emitter
ExponentX,EmitterSpacing.
SubMain:
o Input:PipeType,PipeSize(s),Slope(s),Length,InletPressure,Row
Spacing.
o Output:BlockFlow,BlockEmissionUniformity,MinimumLateralFlow,
MaximumLateralFlow,Min/MaxLateralFlow,MinimumPressure,
MaximumPressure,InnerDiameter,RoughnessCoefficient,BlockSize,
PrecipitationRate,LengthofTubingandFlow.
Flushing:LateralandSubMain
o Input:EndPressure,FlushingVelocity,InletPressure
o Output:Velocity,InletPressure,LateralOutletFlow,EmitterFlow,
Traveltime,EndPressure

Figure4showstheLateral,SubMain,andFlushingareasoftheDashboardin
moredetail:

ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page10

AnotherkeyfeatureofthedashboardistheChartTilearea,whichplotssixdrip
systemoperatingparametersvs.lengthofrun.Thedefaultviewminimizesthe
ChartTilesatthebottomofthedashboardasshowninFigure5:

Figure 5 Chart Tiles appear in minimized format at the bottom of the dashboard.
Figure 4 - Lateral, Sub-Main, and Flushing areas of the dashboard.
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page11
Alternatively,byclickingontheChartTileiconinthetoolbar,eachchartmaybe
viewedindividuallyinanexpandedformat,orwithtwo,three,orfourcharts
shownatatime,asshowninFigure6:

TheotherkeyfeatureofthedashboardisthecolorcodedUniformityMapwhich
illustratesthepercentflowdeviationfromaverageflowforeachoftheblock
designs.Forexample,ablockdesignwithhighuniformitywillhavefewercolors
thanablock,designwithpooruniformity.Figure7comparestheuniformitymap
fromadesignusingclassicdriptapeontheleftwiththeuniformitymapofa
designusingpressurecompensatingdriptapeontheright.Thedesignonthe
rightismoredesirablebecauseitexhibitslessflowvariation,orlesscolor
variation,thanthemapontheleft.
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page12
Insummary,themajoradvantageofusingAquaFlow3.2softwareisthatall
lateral,submainandflushingoutputsareinstantlyupdatedasinputsarechanged
bythedesigner.ThisincludestheOutputOverview,theUniformityMapandthe
ChartTiles.Thus,thereisnoneedtotogglefromonescreentoanothertoview
theresultsofuserdatainputchangestolength,slope,inletpressure,manifold
location,productselection,etc.Thissavesthedesignertime,and/orallowsthe
designertoevaluatemoreoptionsthaneverbeforeinanefficientmanner.Now,
letscomparetwodesigns.
DefaultBlockDesign

WhenAquaFlow3.2launches,adefaultdesignappearsonthescreenwithinputs
selectedandoutputsdisplayed.
TheLateralSelectionusesAquaTraxxClassicdriptapepartnumber
EA5xx0867ona.5%downslope,440footlengthofrun,12psiinlet
pressureandthesubmainpositionedatthetopofthefield.TheSubMain
is4OvalHose,thesubmainrunsalonga.5%downhillslope,thesubmain
lengthofrunis330feet,thesubmaininletpressureis12psiandthe
lateralrowspacingis48inchesapart.
Figure 7 - Uniformity Maps for two different tape designs. The design on the left uses Aqua-Traxx Classic
drip tape, the design on the right uses Aqua-Traxx PC drip tape.
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page13
o TheresultingEmissionUniformity(EU)forasinglelaterallineis
90.36%,andtheEUfortheentireblockis89.42%.AllotherOutput
datamaybeviewedbeneaththeInputdata.
o TheUniformityMapillustratespercentflowdeviationfromaverage
fortheblockusingcolor(yellow,green,andblue,inthiscase).
o Selectoutputdataalsoappearsintiledgraphsatthebottomofthe
page.Toviewanyonetofouroftheseinalargerformat,selectthe
ChartTilesicontotheleftoftheCalculatorintheToolbar,and
thenclickontheupperrighthandcornerofuptofourtilesto
enlargethem.ClickontheChartTilesiconagaintoreturnto
normalview.
TheComparisonlateralusesAquaTraxxPCdriptapepartnumber
EAP5xx0867insteadofAquaTraxxClassicallotherinputsremainthe
same.NotethattheEUforasinglelateralisnow93.16%,andtheEUfor
theentireblockisnow92.49%.Also,notethattheUniformityMaphas
improvedandshowslesscolorvariation.

Inthiscase,usingapressurecompensatingdevicehelpsthedesignerachievea
uniformityof93.16%insteadof90.42%,a3%difference.

TheLateralandSubmainflushingparametersmaybeviewedbytoggling
betweenthetwochoices.Notethattheflushingvelocityofthelateralis
1.48feetpersecond(fps)whentheinletpressureis12psi,butthatonly
7.7psiisrequiredtoachieveaflushingvelocityof1.0fps.
Asnotedabove,selectoutputdataalsoappearsintiledgraphsatthe
bottomofthepage.Toviewanyonetofouroftheseinalargerformat,
selecttheChartTilesicontotheleftoftheCalculatorintheToolbar,and
thenclickontheupperrighthandcornerofuptofourtilestoenlarge
them.ClickontheChartTilesiconagaintoreturntonormalview.

Customers,Projects,BlockDesignsandMainlineDesign

AquaFlow3.2maybeusedtocreateindividualBlockDesignsaspreviouslyshown,
butmayalsobeusedtodesignMainlinesthatservicemultipleblocks.Inthis
case,aCustomerandProjectmustbecreatedbythedesigner,andthenmultiple
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page14
blockdesignsassignedtothatProject.AMainlinecanthenbeassociatedwith
theprojectanddesignedtoservicetheblockwithmultiplesegments.
First,aCustomeriscreatedbychoosingCustomerfromtheMaintenance
pulldownmenu.Thisinformationwillappearpriortotheblockand
mainlinedesignswhenaProjectisprinted.Entertherequiredinformation
andthenclickonSaveandClose.
NextaProjectiscreatedbychoosingProjectfromtheMaintenancepull
downmenu.CreateaProjectname,andthenchoosetheCustomerthat
theProjectisassociatedwith.NowclickonSaveandClose.
Now,anewBlockDesignsmaybecreated.ChooseNewDesignfromthe
FilepulldownmenuorfromtheToolbar.Namethedesign,enterthe
requiredinformation,andthenclickonSave&Closetoviewtheresults.
Forthenextblock,chooseNewDesignagainandrepeattheprevious
procedure.
Whenallblockshavebeendesigned,amainlinemaybedesignedtoservice
eachoftheblocks.ChooseMainlinefromtheMaintenancepulldown
menu,orfromtheMainlineIcononthetoolbar.ThenchooseNew,
provideanameforthemainlinedesign,andthenassociateitwithaproject
sothatitmaybeprintedalongwiththeblockdesignswhenPrintProjectis
chosen.Nowentertheelevation,flow,length,pressure,pipetypeandpipe
sizeinformationrequiredforeachmainlinesegment,beginningwiththe
blockfurthestfromthepump.Themainlinereportmaythenbeprinted
and/oritmaybesaved.Figure8showsthedatainputscreenforatwo
segmentmainlinethathasbeensizedtosupplywatertothetwoblocks
usedinthepreviousexamplesasreportedinFigures11and12.Inthis
example,thepumpstationislocated100feetfromthe2ndblock.

Figure 8 - Mainline Data Input Screen and Results

ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page15
PrintingDesignsandProjects

Nowanyindividualblockdesign,ortheentireproject,maybeprinted,exported
oremailedinpdf,html,mht,rtf,xls,xlsx,csv,text,orimagefileformats.From
thepulldownmenu,choosePrintDesigntoprinttheLateralSelectionblock
design,theComparisonLateralblockdesign,orboth,thatarecurrentlyselected
onthedashboard.Or,choosePrintProjecttoprintalltheblocksandthe
mainlinethatisassociatedwiththeProjectcurrentlyselectedontheDashboard.
Thereportmaythenbecustomizedwithcolorandwatermarks.Figure9shows
theDesignReportOptionsandtheWatermarkcustomizationfeature,andFigure
10showsthereportforthemainlineassociatedwiththisproject.

Finally,Figure11showstheLateralSelectionDesignReportoutput,andFigure12
showstheComparativeLateralDesignReportoutput.Allofthesereportsmaybe
generatedbychoosingthePrintProjectoption.

Figure 9 - Design Report Options and Watermark Options

Figure 10 - Mainline Report
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page16
LateralSelectionDesignReportusingAquaTraxxClassicDripTape
Figure 11 - Lateral Design Report Output
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page17
ComparativeLateralDesignReportusingAquaTraxxPCDripTape
Figure 12 - Comparati ve Lateral Design Report
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page18
Conclusion
ThankyouforyourinterestinAquaFlow3.2.Weknowthatmakingtheright
choicesindripirrigationdesigncanbeatediousprocess.Wehopethatbyusing
TorosnewAquaFlow3.2designassistsoftwarewithitsuniquedashboard,color
codeduniformitymapandimmediateviewofresultswillassistyouinmaking
betterdesigndecisions.Byimprovingtheefficiencyandaccuracyofdrip
irrigationdesignusingAquaFlow3.2,wehopethatdripirrigationsystemfield
performanceusingTorosfulllineofdripirrigationequipmentwillbeimprovedas
well.

ForfurtherinformationaboutTorosproductsandservices,pleasevisitour
websiteattoro.comorourblogatdriptips.toro.com
ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page19

ToroMicroIrrigationAquaFlow3.2UsersManual
Toro.com 18003338125 Page20