Type 3 sprinkler

In sprinkler or overhead irrigation, water is piped to one or more central locations within the field and distributed by overhead high-pressure sprinklers or guns. A system utilizing sprinklers, sprays, or guns mounted overhead on permanently installed risers is often referred to as a solid-set irrigation system.

                                       Sprinker irrigation

Type 4 sub-irrigation

Subirrigation has been used for many years in field crops in areas with high water tables. It is a method of artificially raising the water table to allow the soil to be moistened from below the plants' root zone. Often those systems are located on permanent grasslands in lowlands or river valleys and combined with drainage infrastructure. A system of pumping stations, canals, weirs and gates allows it to increase or decrease the water level in a network of ditches and thereby control the water table.

 Type 5 Manual using buckets or watering cans

These systems have low requirements for infrastructure and technical equipment but need high labor inputs. Irrigation using watering cans is to be found for example in peri-urban agriculture around large cities in some African countries. This type of irrigation is also practiced in poor or developing countries. It is also practiced in small gardens.

Type6 Automatic, non-electric using buckets and ropes

Besides the common manual watering by bucket, an automated, natural version of this also exists. Using plain polyester ropes combined with a prepared ground mixture can be used to water plants from a vessel filled with water.

Type7 Using water condensed from humid air

In countries where at night, humid air sweeps the countryside, water can be obtained from the humid air by condensation onto cold surfaces. This is for example practiced in the vineyards at Lanzarote using stones to condense water or with various fog collectors based on canvas or foil sheets.