Drip Irrigation System Maintenance

Clean and flush your drip irrigation filters on a daily basis or at least before any irrigation long shift. Please refer to each filter manufacturer's maintenance and care instructions.

LATERAL FLUSHING

Lateral flushing flushes out debris that accumulates in the

dripline and can eventually clog the dripper's water inlet or labyrinth. During the irrigation season, laterals should be flushed every 2-3 weeks. Flushing is done by opening the lateral end for 30-60 seconds until the water coming out of the  lateral is clear. Flushing with a flushing sub-main or with a Lateral Flush Valve will reduce costs of manual labor and guarantee frequent flushing.

ACID TREATMENT

Application of acid is recommended as part of a routine maintenance procedure. Acid injection reduces clogging caused by low solubility salts, such as calcium carbonate.

The following recommendations are for hydrochloric acid 33% or phosphoric acid 85%.  Determining the acid quantity to be injected:

Take a 10 liter bucket and gradually start adding acid in small portions and measuring the accepted pH. Once you reach the required pH of 2.0, calculate the amount of acid required for receiving this value in your system by multiplying the acid quantity by 100 and injecting this amount per 1 m3 of the system discharge.

Treatment instructions:

1.Treatment should be carried out 1-2 times during the irrigation season or when system discharge drops by 5%.

2. Flush all sub-mains and laterals before starting the treatment.

3.Check the discharge of the system before the treatment so you can later compare this with the discharge of the treated system.

4.Solution preparation: The solution volume (water + acid) should be equal to one quarter (¼) of the hourly discharge of the injector. This way the injection will last  for 15 minutes. We recommend working with the maximum injector discharge in order to avoid working with a highly concentrated solution.

5.Start the injection only after the system is full of water

and the drippers are emitting.

6.Control: Using a litmus indicator strip, check the pH at the furthest lateral for residual acid (pH 2.0). A second application is recommended if no residual acid is detected.

7. Inject during 15 minutes.

8.Continue irrigation for 30-60 minutes to ensure the complete flushing of the system.

9.Check the discharge of the system.

Example:

•           Acid needed for receiving pH (2.0) in the 10 liter bucket = 12 cc

•           12 cc X 100 = 1200 cc = 1.2 liters

•           Inject 1.2 liters of acid per 1 m3

of the system discharge

•           System discharge (of the treated sector) = 30 m3

/h

•           System discharge during the 15 minute treatment= 7.5 m3

•           Acid required = 1.2 liter X 7.5 = 9 litter

•           Max. injector discharge = 200 l/h

•           Total solution volume required (¼ of 200 liters) = 50 liters

•           50 liters of solution = 9 liters of acid + 41 liters of water

•           Injection time = 15 minutes (50 liters injected with a 200 l/h injector

CHLORINATION

Chlorine injection reduces clogging caused by organic materials. It is recommended as an intermittent treatment or as an ongoing preventive treatment in systems that use water that contains a high concentration of organic materials.The most commonly used material is sodium hydrochloride 10-12%.

Treatment instructions:

1. Find out the required dose, treatment frequency and longevity. Refer to the chart below:

Contact Time:

The time in which the system is in contact with the injected chlorine. This time is measured from the moment you detect free chlorine in the emitters. Concentration of free chlorine:

Measure active free chlorine concentration (residual chlorine), using a color comparison set .This is the same set that is used to monitor the chlorine level in swimming pools. The residual chlorine concentration depends on the water chlorine demand.

2. Flush all sub-mains and laterals before starting the treatment.

3. Dosing and injecting: Use the following formula to determine injection rate and stock solution concentration:
 

If the injector can be manipulated to inject at different discharge levels, you may do so, according to your requirements. If not, you can adapt the stock solution concentration.

Adapting the stock solution concentration to a fixed injection rate:

Example:

•           System discharge (of the treated sector) = 30 m3/h

•           Chlorine concentration required at injection point = 10 PPM

•           Injector discharge = 200 l/h

•           Concentration of stock solution % = ? 

B. Diluting the commercial product to achieve the   

adequate stock solution concentration:

(Concentration of commercial product %)

------------------------------------------------------ = (Diluting ratio)

(Needed concentration of stock solution %)

Example:

Concentration of commercial product = 10%

------------------------------------------------ = Diluting ratio= 1/66

Needed concentration of stock solution = 0.15 %

Mix 1 litter of commercial product 10% with 66 liters of

water to have a 0.15% stock solution.