The analyses made by UNESCO, that were recently published (World Water) (in stated that water is a limited and vulnerable resource, that is to sustain life, for development and the environment) and concluded that 80% of the water consumed is used for agricultural irrigation, 12% in industrial processes and 8% is consumed by persons. As we can see, the amount of water used to irrigate plantations is small, since a large amount rest is wasted due to deficient installations, the negligence that occurs during operations or simply due to its incorrect use.

What makes matters worse is that there is the bad habit of irrigating plants during the night, due to the mistaken notion that, in this way, since there is no evaporation and the soil is cold, water is being saved. Additionally, the low cost of electricity during the night encourages irrigation in intensive agriculture, based on the field capacity. The idea is that the large amount of water will be retained by the soil, until it is actually needed by the plants. In fact, this does not occur since soil is highly porous, and most of this water is drained.

We can therefore conclude that potable water is wasted pointlessly in irrigation.

Regarding the protection of underground water springs, the current procedure in general consists of the digging of pits around the deposits of contaminating substances from sanitary dumps, in order to collect the possible infiltrated substance and later analyze it, to find out what products are accessing and contaminating underground water reserves.

It is thus obvious that this type of identification occurs after the reserve has already been contaminated.

THE STATE OF CONTROL TECHNIQUES ON WATER USAGE

To make things worse, there are currently available control and automatization systems for irrigation, that operate during an interval between watering cycles, and they have rain sensors, and in some cases even electroresistant sensors or conducts of soil humidity. These systems provide prestablished amounts of water to plantations during predetermined periods for each type of plant, according to the Field Capacity of each type of soil. They do not take into account the photosynthetic processes that increase the water needs of plants.

OUR CONTRIBUTION

• THE EFFICIENT USE OF POTABLE WATER
Based on the reality and the parameters here described, the Sensitive Controller for irrigation was developed. It is an electronic equipment, with a microprocessor. It can be programmed and has an Osmotic Sensor of Soil Humidity, a Light Sensor and a Rain Sensor. Its goal is to create an automatic process to manage irrigation and to assure the supply of water in the amount and at the right moment for the plants that have to be watered. Therefore, it prevents the misuse of water.

• THE PROTECTION OF WATER SPRINGS
The equipment can also be used to protect underground water springs by identifying contaminating infiltrations, before they reach or contaminate the aquifer.

This is a technological innovation that will strive to efficiently supply irrigation water and will protect the environment.