Sarir project was setup approximately at the same time run by the French government.

In 1973, the Lockwood Corporation sent two men to the ASU research farm over Christmas break and we worked together building a small demonstration center-povit sprinkler system identical to the Kufra machines. The idea was that if problems came up in Libya our researchers could workout a solution without having to travel to Kufra.

In the end, the machines had steel joints/couplers between sections of aluminum pipe that rusted severely causing leaks, while rust particles clogged the fine mist sprinkler nozzles. We grew alfalfa under the sprinkler at the ASU research farm. In the Arizona summer, I ran the irrigation system as fast as I could 24 hours a day and could just barely keep the alfalfa alive. The nozzles put out an extremely fine mist which was totaly wrong for desert conditions. Evaporation and volume of water dispersed were the biggest issues. Modern L.E.P.A. systems would have solved these problems.

At the Kufra Project, they grew wheat and alfalfa. I believe most of the wheat was shipped by truck back to the cities on the coast, while the alfalfa fed sheep and maybe goats that were brought into Kufra. The sheep grazed the irrigation circles and excess alfalfa was baled sent to the coast.

The Kufra is an oasis. There is standing water at the heart of the oasis, but it is extremely brackish. The entire southwest and west of Libya and the eastern part of Egypt is above a very large underground water lake - the Nubian aquifer. This aquifer is stagnant. There is no flow. The elevation of the water table is the same through out the aquifer. An oasis is where the level of the land (sand) dips down to expose the water at the top of the aquifer. Since the water at the top of the aquifer is very brackish, there is a well at each circle that goes down some 1500 feet. While the water artesians to within a few feet of the surface, the irrigation water is actually drawn from a depth of 1500 feet. Since the water is stagnant, and under a great deal of pressure (nearly 700 psi) at this depth, it contains dissolved CO2. As the pressure is reduced, this goes to a week carbonic acid. This acid will eat through the conventionally galvanized steel machine is a few short years. This is why Alsa attempted to use aluminum. The Lockwood machines were constructed with steel, but lined with stainless steel.

I have pictures of the installation if one would like to see them.

Clif