[[Image:Waggon icon.png|right|100px80px|]][[Image:waggon wheel.jpg|thumb|right|400px200px|The Waggon Wheel system. Drawing: [http://www.samsamwater.com/library.php?serie=RELMA%20Technical%20Handbook%20Series RELMA.]]]__NOTOC__<small-title />
The Waggon Wheel system was developed in South Africa by Dr Gerrie Albertse in 1995. It has been used to grow vegetables and grapes in the very harsh conditions of arid South Africa. The Waggon Wheel irrigation system uses a circular arrangement of 6 drip lines radiating out from the central reservoir drum (210 litres) — hence the name Waggon Wheel. The length of each drip line is 6 m.
Six examples are presented: the KARI drum system from Kenya, the Waggon Wheel system from South Africa, the Family, Plastro and Micro-Tal systems from Israel, and the IDE drum used in India.
===Construction operations and maintenance===The standard drum kit system comprises a drum, control valve, a manifold and drip lines. The drum should be filled with the valve in the closed position. To irrigate it is important to open the valve fully. This allows the water to be distributed quickly through the drip lines and allows for good water distribution.
'''System components'''<br>
# Connect the drip lines to the manifold and the manifold to the drum outlet.
===Costs===
A typical cost of the homemade Waggon Wheel system is US$ 16 in South Africa.
===Acknowledgements===
* Sijali, Isaya V. [http://www.samsamwater.com/library.php?serie=RELMA%20Technical%20Handbook%20Series DRIP IRRIGATION: Options for smallholder farmers in eastern and southern Africa.] RELMA, 2001.
