The sprinkler method is in some ways the most convenient and efficient irrigation system. Most types of sprinklers require piping and pumps. The water can be placed exactly where it is needed, and the flow rate can be regulated more accurately than in other systems. Sprinklers can also be used effectively on rough and hilly land without smoothing and grading. There are several types of sprinklers, some much like lawn sprinklers.
Units can be portable, permanent, or semipermanent.
Rotary sprinkler systems are widely used in the United States. They consist of sprinklers mounted on a radial pipeline supported by towers. The towers are mounted on two wheels or small trucks for movement across a field. The pipeline is slowly rotated about a pivot by electric motors at each tower or, in self-propelled systems, by water pressure actuators. In drip, or trickle, irrigation, which was developed in Israel, a perforated plastic pipe is laid on the ground.