Sonoma County Drip Irrigation

Drip irrigation, also known as trickle irrigation or micro irrigation is an irrigation method that minimizes the use of water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and emitters.

Modern drip irrigation has arguably become the most important innovation in agriculture since the invention of the impact sprinkler in the 1930s, which replaced wasteful flood irrigation. Drip irrigation may also use devices called micro-spray heads, which spray water in a small area, instead of dripping emitters. These are generally used on tree and vine crops with wider root zones. Subsurface drip irrigation or SDI uses permanently or temporarily buried dripper line or drip tape located at or below the plant roots. It is becoming more widely used for row crop irrigation especially in areas where water supplies are limited or recycled water is used for irrigation. Careful study of all the relevant factors like land topography, soil, water, crop and agro-climatic conditions, are needed to determine the most suitable drip irrigation system and components to be used in a specific installation.

Irrigation History

Drip irrigation has been used since ancient times when buried clay pots were filled with water and the water gradually seeped into the soil. Modern drip irrigation began its development in Germany in 1860 when researchers began experimenting with sub irrigation using clay pipe to create combination irrigation and drainage systems. In 1913, E.B. House at Colorado State University succeeded in applying water to the root zone of plants without raising the water table. Perforated pipe was introduced in Germany in the 1920s and in 1934, O.E. Robey experimented with irrigating through porous canvas hose at Michigan State University.

Drip Irrigation System Layout and its parts

Components (listed in order from water source)

• Pump or pressurized water source
• Water Filter(s) - Filtration Systems: Sand Separator, Cyclone, Screen Filter, Media Filters
• Fertigation Systems (Venturi injector) and Chemigation Equipment (optional)
• Backwash Controller
• 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, trickle rings)

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.

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 injector 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.

If 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 trick 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.

Garden drip irrigation kits are increasingly popular for the homeowner and consist of a timer, hose and emitter.

Drip Irrigation - Advantages/Disadvantages

The advantages of drip irrigation are:

• Minimized fertilizer/nutrient loss due to localized application and reduced leaching.
• High water distribution efficiency.
• Leveling of the field not necessary.
• Allows safe use of recycled water.
• Moisture within the root zone can be maintained at field capacity.
• Soil type plays less important role in frequency of irrigation.
• Minimized soil erosion.
• Highly uniform distribution of water i.e., controlled by output of each nozzle.
• Lower labor cost.
• Variation in supply can be regulated by regulating the valves and drippers.
• Fertigation can easily be included with minimal waste of fertilizers.
• Early maturity and a bountiful harvest (season after season, year after year)

The issues related to proper installation of drip irrigation are:

• Expense. Initial cost can be more than overhead systems.
• Waste. The plastic tubing and "tapes" generally last 1-3 seasons before being replaced.
• Clogging, if the water is not properly filtered and the equipment not properly maintained.
• Drip irrigation might be unsatisfactory if herbicides or top dressed fertilizers need sprinkler irrigation for activation.
• Drip tape causes extra cleanup costs after harvest. You'll need to plan for drip tape winding, disposal, recycling or reuse.
• Waste of water, time & harvest, if not installed properly.
• These systems requires careful study of all the relevant factors like land topography, soil, water, crop and agro-climatic conditions, and suitability of drip irrigation system and its components.