A successful deployment of a Sommer RQ-30

The St. Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) is the largest in Canada, and located in southern Alberta, extending from Lethbridge in the west to Medicine Hat in the east.  The St. Mary reservoir is the source of the SMRID Main Canal which goes on to service over 400, 000 acres of agricultural land.  Water flows into the Main Canal via a syphon (approximately 350m long x 6m diameter) which is underground and traverses the Pine Pound Coulee.  Accurate flow measurements are required, as the demands upon the available water supply is tightly monitored and regulated.  The Sommer RQ-30 was selected for its ability to be work in the turbulent flow conditions at the exit of the syphon and the ability to service the unit while the canal was in operation.  In stream systems would require that the canals be drained (normally at the end of the irrigation season), so that the hardware could be retrieved.  To ensure that the RQ-30 was operating correctly, we employed the use of another Sommer product, the HSR-10, Handheld Surface Velocity Radar device, which uses the same technology.  The quality of the measurements from both units were very good and a reference measurement made using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler confirmed that the Sommer RQ-30 was measuring the flows within the accepted range of accuracy.  Speaking with the consulting engineering firm, who specified the Sommer unit, there was significant interest in using the RQ-30 in other locations within the district.