Senninger Irrigation

History

Senninger Irrigation was founded in 1963 by Joe Senninger, a retired engineer and citrus grower living in Central Florida. The company was founded after Senninger created the first “insect-proof” sprinkler that would prevent mud dauber wasps from nesting in the nozzle orifices of overhead sprinklers when an irrigation system was not in operation. The wasps would clog sprinklers and impede water flow, causing difficulties for citrus farmers in the area.

Since its inception, Senninger has developed numerous irrigation products and established itself as one of the world's leading irrigation equipment manufacturers for the agricultural industry. The company currently operates in over 49 countries. The company has developed products that are now considered industry standards, including the first high quality in-line pressure regulator (1966); color-coded nozzles for easy size identification (1970); Wobbler Technology (1978); sprays with interchangeable deflector pads (1980); a four-mode LEPA (Low Energy Precision Application) Quad Spray (1986); the integral weight concept (1999); double goosenecks and truss rod hose slings (2002), as well as the UP3 Easy Clean Nozzle (2008). Senninger has also developed various software programs for the industry to aid in irrigation system design. These include WinSIPP, IrriMaker and IrriExpress.

The company has a warehouse in Lubbock, Texas and in Grand Island, Nebraska as well as a division in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is primarily involved in the agriculture industry, but also creates products for the mining industry and the dairy industry.

In 2015, Senninger Irrigation's headquarters was designated as a Groundwater Guardian Green Site by The Groundwater Foundation in recognition of the company's groundwater and environmental stewardship. The Groundwater Foundation stated the company earned this exclusive designation based on its current practices related to water use, pesticide and fertilizer management, and pollution prevention.

On January 4, 2016 Senninger Irrigation was wholly acquired by California-based Hunter Industries. The two companies have been strategic partners since 2004.

Corporate Philosophy

Senninger specializes in low pressure irrigation products designed to help growers use less water and energy to produce more food, fiber and alternative fuel around the world. The company's products are designed to increase irrigation uniformity by spreading water in a pattern that resits wind distortion and evaporation at high temperatures.

Innovations

Senninger develops water and energy efficient sprinklers, spray nozzles, pressure regulators and other irrigation tools for agriculture, mining, effluent and wastewater applications, and even the dairy industry.

Wobbler Sprinklers

Senninger introduced the Wobbler in 1980. The sprinkler was designed to increase irrigation uniformity at low pressures, which made it very popular among farmers looking for water and energy savings.

Wobbler technology uses an off-center rotary motion and groove configurations on the sprinkler deflector pad to increase uniformity. The grooves in the deflector divide the flow into numerous sections of water. The off-center wobble further divides each section into relatively uniform-sized droplets. The rotary action evenly distributes these droplets over a large area, so water distribution occurs very rapidly. Wobbler sprinklers to not need to make a complete revolution to fill in the distribution pattern. This instantaneous coverage is gentler than stream driven devices and helps preserve soil absorption. Droplet size is determined by the deflector’s specific groove configuration and angle.

Wobbler technology was adapted for pivot sprinklers, solid set sprinklers and nursery and greenhouse sprinklers.

Pressure Regulators for the Agriculture Industry

Senninger introduced the first high-quality in-line pressure regulator to the irrigation industry in 1966.

Pressure regulators limit excessive and varying inlet pressures to a constant outlet pressure. This is done to maintain the desired performance of a sprinkling device. They accomplish this by automatically modulating their area of opening. By changing the area of opening as upstream pressures fluctuate, pressure loss through the regulator changes proportionally. This allows them to maintain the downstream pressure at a relative constant.

Pressure regulators became popular due to their ability to maintain sprinkler's application patterns and droplet size despite fluctuating pressures in the system. When pressure and flow in an irrigation system spikes and goes beyond sprinkler design conditions, the sprinkler's application pattern will be affected and farmers could easily run into uniformity issues, over or under watering, and irregular crop growth. Pressure regulators prevent these issues.

LEPA Applicators

In the 1970s, Senninger partnered with researchers and agricultural engineers at the Texas A&M University to develop a system that would reduce the energy requirements of a mechanical move system, while maximizing the use of both rainfall and applied irrigation water. In 1981, this joint effort resulted in the release of the Quad Spray, the first LEPA (Low Energy Precision Application) sprinkler for center pivots. LEPA is a highly method of delivering water to crops from center pivot and linear move machines. It offers growers both extremely high water application efficiency and low, energy saving operating pressures through a combination of unique sprinkler heads that avoid wetting the crop canopy and conservation tillage practices that preserve soil moisture and reduce runoff.

True LEPA systems use low-pressure bubble heads to deposit water directly into furrows just 8 to 18 inches above the ground. With the heads closer to the crop, the water avoids the hitting leaves. Water does not come in contact with plants and fruit susceptible to water borne diseases and nearly all of it is absorbed by the soil.

LEPA is primarily used on relatively flat fields. The maximum recommended slope is 1%. It also requires circular planting to keep the sprinkler centered in the furrow. Circular rows increase uniformity of water distribution and reduce runoff.

According to researchers at Texas A&M, at least 20% more water will reach the soil surface compared to conventional spray heads, which are very susceptible to high wind speed, low relative humidity, temperature, and evaporation losses. This means growers with a center pivot operating at 800 GPM can get an extra 140 to 180 GPM to the ground and to the crop.