Maintaining a drip irrigation system for perennial horticulture
Summary
Irrigation systems only operate well if properly maintained. This is especially important for drip irrigation, as it is difficult to detect problems before crop health problems become obvious.
This Primefact outlines the maintenance procedures that all irrigators should use to gain and retain the maximum benefit from their drip irrigation system.
The most common problems with drip irrigation are:
- emitter clogging
- dripper component deterioration
- system pressure mismanagement.
Regular maintenance and monitoring is the best way to identify and avoid problems before crop health and yield suffers.
Over time, system performance will decline to some degree in all drip systems, regardless of management. However, there are ways to minimise this decline.
Systems that are regularly flushed, cleaned, have adequate filtration and are well designed (including the ability to adequately flush) can maintain an acceptable level of performance over an extended period.
