Field trip to Gaotai (Heihe) and Guantao (Handan)
Swiss team back from 3 intensive field work weeks in China
In Heihe the two surface flow measurement stations installed first time in late 2015 were equipped with higher masts and safer hardware, including an alarm system that rings an alarm and sends an SMS in case someone tries to open the sensor box. At the same time important local stakeholders were visited to learn from their experiences and discuss future work.
In Handan pumping tests at 102 locations were carried out with 29 students from a local University, Hebei University of Engineering. These pumping tests help us better to understand the relation between energy consumption for pumping and the actual volume of water delivered to the fields. A survey was also carried out to collect the information of the monitored transformers and wells including coordinates, irrigation area and pump power. The information will be used in the estimation of pumped water volume.
Additionally, the last pair of 10 test meters was installed by Itron, a French company. The other meters, including a number of the 100 meters installed at the electrical transformers, were checked and necessary measures were taken in case of technical issues. Additionally the correct use and maintenance of the meters in the field was discussed with various stakeholders.
