Research Produces Water Measurement Device

Research at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory has produced a pressure detector to tell farmers how much water is going through their pipes.

The device originally was developed to measure the outflow of water in a nuclear reactor’s cooling system. The new farm application will be assembled in Idaho Falls by a new company, ID Tech, an offshoot of Snake River Valley, Inc., Blackfoot irrigation equipment company.

Principal owner Terrel Kidd said it’s becoming more important to measure water consumed to make sure it matches a farmer’s water rights.

“In Idaho, farmers have always enjoyed access to all the water they’ve needed,” he said. “They never really had competing interests for the water. (But) people are starting to question whether agriculture is using more than it’s entitled to.”

He said increasing pressures from recreationists and urban development are about to force stricter control of water. He expects to set up the measuring devices for less than $1,500.

“It represents the first example of a local company coming to us with a product need which we’re able to connect with technology,” said Tom Ulrich of Lockheed Martin’s Technology Transfer Office.

That’s the kind of industry-driven spinoff that INEL managers have talked about for more than a year.