Mike Rowan, Karen M. Mancl and Olli H. Tuovinen
Drip irrigation is a reliable and efficient way to deliver water to the soil; however, drip emitter clogging is a major concern when irrigating treated wastewater. Four types of drip irrigation emitters from three manufacturers were analyzed over a one-year period to monitor the incidence of clogging and its effect on irrigation uniformity. A controlled laboratory experiment was conducted using two different types of pressure compensating emitters designed for reclaimed wastewater, one type of non-pressure compensating emitter designed for reclaimed wastewater, and one type of non-pressure compensating agricultural emitter designed for potable water applications. Emitters of each type distributed tap water, primary treated septic tank effluent, and secondary treated sand filter effluent. Emitter flow rates were measured each month to identify clogged or flow restricted emitters. Some clogging was seen in each type of emitter over the course of the experiment and emitter flow rates fluctuated over time, suggesting that clogging was gradual and often incomplete. Many of the emitters exhibited a cyclical flow rate indicating that clogging was reversible. The emitters distributing septic tank effluent exhibited the most significant reduction in flow. The most severely clogged emitter experienced a reduction of 63% after one year of irrigation with septic tank effluent. Secondary treatment using the sand filter showed the least clogging in all four types of emitters. One of the reclaimed wastewater emitter types experienced an average reduction in flow of 1% while the other two actually increased in flow by1% and 4% after one year of irrigation with effluent from a sand filter. Water quality appeared to have a more pronounced effect than did emitter type. The effect of wastewater type on emitter discharge was +3.3% for tap water, -9.4% for septic tank effluent and -0.3% for effluent from secondary sand filtration. While the agricultural drip emitters experienced a significant negative impact after one year of operation the three drip emitters designed for distributing septic tank effluent and reclaimed wastewater showed little clogging and a high degree of uniformity.
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