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Monday, February 15, 2010

It's Irrigation Day

UPDATE 03/04/2010 - added a close up of another irrigation pump and a video capturing the "putt putt" sound. Check the bottom of the post.

Our morning walk through the neighborhood takes us through a variety of scenery. This neighborhood has been primarily agricultural for the past several thousand years but is now urbanizing. This photo shows a bit of the mix from our rear balcony.

The water for these fields is supplied by a series of canals. The water level in most of these is just a few feet below the field. There are two tell-tale signs that a field is being watered. The first is visual. The birds move into the field looking for food. The second sign is the putt-putt of the pumps working to bring the water out of the canals.

I took a closer picture of one of the pumps last year:

As we continued up the road, we came to another farmer who was also irrigating but using a quieter pump with fewer "horsepower."

When we were on the boat cruise from Luxor to Aswan we saw the same pump in use but with a different model of "engine:"


It's the mix of old and new, rural and urban, etc., that makes the area fascinating.

Update added on 3/4/2010.
Here is a close-up of another pump in action.


And a short video to capture the sound:

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