Components

(listed in order from water source)

• Pump or pressurized water source
• Water Filter(s) - Filtration Systems: Sand Separator like Hydro-Cyclone, Screen filters, Media Filters, Disc Filters.
• Fertigation Systems (Venturi injector) and Chemigation Equipment (optional)
• Backwash Controller (Backflow Preventer)
• Pressure Control Valve (Pressure Regulator)
• Main Line (larger diameter Pipe and Pipe Fittings)
• Hand-operated, electronic, or hydraulic Control Valves and Safety Valves
• Smaller diameter polytube (often referred to as “laterals”)
• Poly fittings and Accessories (to make connections)
• Emitting Devices at plants (ex. Emitter or Drippers, micro spray heads, inline drippers or inline driptube
• Note that in Drip irrigation systems Pump and valves may be manually or automatically operated by a controller.

Most large drip irrigation systems employ some type of filter to prevent clogging of the small emitter flow path by small waterborne particles. New technologies are now being offered that minimize clogging. Some residential systems are installed without additional filters since potable water is already filtered at the water treatment plant. Virtually all drip irrigation equipment manufacturers recommend that filters be employed and generally will not honor warranties unless this is done. Last line filters just before the final delivery pipe are strongly recommended in addition to any other filtration system due to fine particle settlement and accidental insertion of particles in the intermediate lines.

Drip and subsurface drip irrigation is used almost exclusively when using recycled municipal waste water. Regulations typically do not permit spraying water through the air that has not been fully treated to potable water standards.

Because of the way the water is applied in a drip system, traditional surface applications of timed-release fertilizer are sometimes ineffective, so drip systems often mix liquid fertilizer with the irrigation water. This is called fertigation; fertigation and chemigation (application of pesticides and other chemicals to periodically clean out the system, such as chlorine or sulfuric acid) use chemical injectors such as diaphragm pumps, piston pumps, or venturi pumps. The chemicals may be added constantly whenever the system is irrigating or at intervals. Fertilizer savings of up to 95% are being reported from recent university field tests using drip fertigation and slow water delivery as compared to timed-release and irrigation by micro spray heads.

Properly designed, installed, and managed, drip irrigation may help achieve water conservation by reducing evaporation and deep drainage when compared to other types of irrigation such as flood or overhead sprinklers since water can be more precisely applied to the plant roots. In addition, drip can eliminate many diseases that are spread through water contact with the foliage. Finally, in regions where water supplies are severely limited, there may be no actual water savings, but rather simply an increase in production while using the same amount of water as before. In very arid regions or on sandy soils, the preferred method is to apply the irrigation water as slowly as possible.

Pulsed irrigation is sometimes used to decrease the amount of water delivered to the plant at any one time, thus reducing runoff or deep percolation. Pulsed systems are typically expensive and require extensive maintenance. Therefore, the latest efforts by emitter manufacturers are focused toward developing new technologies that deliver irrigation water at ultra-low flow rates, i.e. less than 1.0 liter per hour. Slow and even delivery further improves water use efficiency without incurring the expense and complexity of pulsed delivery equipment.

Drip irrigation is used by farms, commercial greenhouses, and residential gardeners.

Drip irrigation is adopted extensively in areas of acute water scarcity and especially for crops such as coconuts, containerized landscape trees, grapes, bananas, ber, brinjal, citrus, strawberries, sugarcane, cotton, maize, and tomatoes.

The Plant Root Injector

As water is becoming scarce due to unpredictable rains, denuded watersheds and artesian wells that are drying-up, we need a fertigation tool that can deliver small amounts of water and fertilizers to root systems in practically the same way and for the same reasons medicines are intravenously given to the sick. Not just from the soil surface, where water and fertilizers can still be lost to evaporation and other factors, before trickling down to the roots as most drip irrigators can accomplish but directly into the root zones as illustrated in the buried plastic bottle below.

A better alternative would be the Plant Root Injector that is fitted with syringe-like stems of various lengths that can be inserted into the ground depending on where the water and nutrients are needed. Water flow can controlled down to a trickle using a variety of plugs. Most importantly, the Plant Root Injector can be made by anyone using commonly-discarded materials.

Tools like the Plant Root Injector that can fertigate with minimum quantities and make plants robust and productive in previously non-arable and non-producing lands (due to poor soils and scarce water supplies as in drought plagued areas, deserts and uplands) will be very helpful in raising plants for food in these areas. Needless to say, existing small scale and intensively farmed gardens will have lower investment costs, lesser input (water and fertilizer) expenses and better profits and productivity with this tool. All towards producing more food for all.

Drip Irrigation for Gardens

Drip irrigation for gardens available in drip kits are increasingly popular for the homeowner and consist of a timer, hose and emitter. Hoses that are 4 mm in diameter are used to irrigate flower pots.

Emitting Pipe

A Emitting Pipe is a type of drip irrigation tubing with emitters pre-installed at the factory with specific distance & flow per hour as per crop distance.

Emitter

An emitter is also called a dripper and is used to transfer water from a pipe or tube to the area that is to be irrigated. Typical emitter flow rates are from 0.6 to 16 L/h. In many emitters, flow will vary with pressure, while some emitters are pressure compensating. These emitters employ silicone diaphragms or other means to allow them to maintain a near-constant flow over a range of pressures, for example from 10 to 50 psi.

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