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Drip Irrigation Guides



What is Dripline and How Do I Use It?

December 02nd, 2020

What Is Dripline and How Do I Use It?

Dripline is a pipeline with an internally built drip emitter, evenly spaced along the pipe to give a dedicated amount of water.

Commonly used in Landscape and Effluent application. Due to the effectiveness, precision and longevity of dripline irrigation, it is becoming more widely used in Horticulture, Agriculture and other areas of irrigation

Options to consider

  • Flow Rate
  • Pressure Regulation
  • Dripper Spacing
  • Application
  • Filtration

What is Dripline?

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veggie garden hero image

Dripline vs Drip tape

Dripline and Drip tape are commonly confused for one another in this industry. Both are fundamentally the same item, having drip emitters evenly spaced, built internally into the pipe. But they are drastically different in material and application.

 

Wall-Thickness

Driptape is a thin-walled tube/pipe, lying flat upon application, only enlarging once filled with water. Dripline is a structured pipe that is rigid, similar to the lateral/poly pipe.

  • Drip tape is a thin-walled pipeline with a common wall thickness of 0.15mm, 0.2mm and 0.3mm.
  • Drip Line commonly has a wall thickness of 0.9mm to 1.2mm

Application

  • Drip tape is commonly used in short term crops and lasts between 1 to 5 years (depending on customer care).
  • Dripline can be used in short or long term crops and will last 10 to 30 years.

Due to the driptape lying flat when not irrigating, it allows for it to recoil when the season ends or for harvesting. Driptape comes in much larger coils between 1000m to 3000m. Dripline comes in 50m to 400m coils and can not be recoiled to store away easily.

Pressure

  • Drip tape operates at low flow and low pressure, approx 0.2 - 1.25 Bar (8 – 15 psi). Higher than the recommended will split either the tube or the fitting connection.
  • Dripline has either pressure compensated or non-compensated drip emitters that can have operating pressures varying from 15 psi to 60 psi.

What Dripline to Choose?

Dripline comes in many different forms and is manufactured with different dripper spacings, different flow rates, different pipe wall thickness, different pipe diameters and also in different colours.

To make the decision of which drip line will suit your situation, you need firstly decide the colour.

Purple is for effluent re-use

Brown is for landscape use

Black is for all other uses

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Netafim Unibioline
metzer dripline coil brown 3
driplines d5000
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Dripper Spacing

Dripline comes in a variety of different spacing between the dripper. Commonly between 10cm to 30cm spacing. This is the distance from one dripper to the next.

It is an easy decision to make when deciding which dripline spacing to look for as can depend on the plant spacing. If you have closely planted crops/garden, go for a close dripper spacing and vice versa.

One, two or more, depends on how much of the root zone you would like to irrigate and how big that root zone is. Keep in mind that any rootzone not irrigated may come under stress during the dry periods.

When deciding on the spacing for your drippers you need to consider how much water each plant will be getting, this also relates to your available water supply.

The closer the spacing, the more drippers per meter, which in turn requires more water.

Use the following example to help make your decisions.

  • 1 Metre / Dripper Spacing
  • 30cm Dripper Spacing = 3.33333 drippers per meter.
  • 3.3333 x Dripper L/hr = Flow per Metre
  • Flow per Meter x Total Metres = Total Flow of Dripline.

Flow Rates

Dripline comes in a variety of different flow rates, ranging from 1 L/hr - 4 L/hr per dripper. When making the decision of which flow rate works for you, you need to consider the following.

  • How much water do you have available?
  • How much water do your plants require?
  • What is the spacing of the drippers?

When you have figured that out you can make the decision on which flow rate you require. remember the calculation above to help determine the total amount of water usage for the system.

If your total run of dripline is 10 L/min and you only have 5 L/min available. You will have to break the run into 2 separate manageable zones.

Remember that pumps do not like working at the bottom or top 10% of performance, as it puts unnecessary stress on the pump. changing the flow rates of the drippers could help the pump run more economically.

Pipe Wall Thickness

Most dripline pipes are rigid pipe that has the dripper built internally. The wall thickness of dripline will vary from manufacturer and pipe diameter. Commonly in the 14mm dripline, the wall thickness is around 0.9mm to 1.2mm

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dripline pipe fitting1

Pipe Diameter

There are a few different diameters of pipe for dripline. The industry standard size is 16mm OD/14mm ID, however, landscape dripline is 13mm ID.

16mm dripline and dripline fittings are referred to by 16mm but are 14mm sized fittings. These are the double barbed fittings found here:

Double Barb Dripline Fittings

Landscape Dripline can use either 13mm Lateral Fittings or the 14mm Dripline Double Barb Fittings.

Double Barbed Fittings do not require ratchet clips.

Pressure Compensating vs Non-Compensating

With an irrigation system, it is wise to keep the flow variation from the outlets to be below 10%, it is commonly easier and cheaper to achieve this with pressure compensated drippers. However it some situations an experienced irrigation designer will be able to create a system with non-pressure regulated drippers that perform below the 10% flow variation and do this at a lower cost than using pressure regulated drippers. It is wise to discuss your system with a designer to see if it is worth having a look into the option. Any large system needs to be evaluated by an experienced designer to ensure the correct selection has been made.

Dripline is a low-pressure system and has an average operating pressure of around 0.5 - 2 Bar. If your system is above this, your dripline will not operate correctly. A pressure regulator valve may be required for your system.

pressure compensator
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Pipeline Supply and Zoning

DIY design for an orchard irrigation system is not recommended, call one of our designers and we can see how we can help. System design can be a simple calculation for small orchards, other bigger systems will need a full computer aided design process.

Filtration

Water quality and filtration are very important for drip irrigation systems. You always require good filtration for drip irrigation even if you have very good quality water. If you have poor quality water, we need to know a bit of detail on what is in the water to decide what filtration system will suit.

disc filter

Installation

The Installation of Dripline is fairly easy, and you can have many different layouts to irrigate your plants/crops. Below are a few examples of different dripline layouts for irrigating a row of trees. For larger trees in the rows, you can go for the Loop option that allows you to customise the amount of dripline per plant.

Use Hose staples to peg the dripline in place. You can install dripline either on the surface or sub-surface.

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What is Driptape and How Do I Use It?

November 16th, 2020

What is Driptape and How Do I Use It?

Driptape is a pipeline with a dripper manufactured inside the pipeline. It is a thin-walled tube rather than a structure pipe, with the common wall-thickness being 0.2mm (8mil).

Commonly a seasonal product used in market gardens or rows of crops. The tape is low pressure and low flow system that has evenly spaced emitters built into the tubing.

Options to consider

  • Flow Rate
  • Pressure regulation
  • Pipe Wall Thickness
  • Filtration

What is Driptape?

veggie garden hero image
low maintenance garden hero image

Drip Line vs Driptape

Dripline and Drip tape are commonly confused for one another in this industry. Both are fundamentally the same item, having drip emitters evenly spaced, built internally into the pipe. But they are drastically different in material and application.

 

Wall-Thickness

Driptape is a thin-walled tube/pipe, lying flat upon application, only enlarging once filled with water. Dripline is a structured pipe that is rigid, similar to the lateral pipe.

  • Drip tape is a thin-walled pipeline with a common wall thickness of 0.15mm, 0.2mm and 0.3mm. In comparison to Drip Line which commonly has a wall thickness of 0.9mm to 1.2mm

Application

Drip tape is commonly used in short term crops and lasts between 1 to 5 years (depending on customer care). This is due to the thin wall pipe. Dripline can be used in short or long term crops and will last 10 to 30 years.

Due to the driptape lying flat when not irrigating, it allows for it to recoil when the season ends or for harvesting. Driptape comes in much larger coils between 1000m to 3000m. this allows for multiple applications for when rows deteriorate, you can easily run a new line from the coil supply. Dripline comes in 100m to 400m coils and can not be recoiled to store away easily.

Pressure

Drip tape operates at low flow and low pressure, approx 0.2 - 1.25 Bar (8 – 15 psi). Higher than the recommended will split either the tube or the fitting connection.
Dripline has either pressure compensated or non-compensated drip emitters that can have operating pressures varying from 15 psi to 60 psi.

What Drip Tape To Choose?

Drip tape comes in many different forms and is manufactured with different dripper flow rates, different spacings, and different wall thickness. There are also two types of diameters in drip tape, 16mm and 22mm. 16mm is the industry standard and mostly the one you will require.

To make your decision of which drip tape you require, you will need to consider these factors

  • Water Supply
  • Pressure
  • Spacing and Length

Water Supply

You will need to understand your water supply for the drip tape and the flow rate available.

  • Working from a pump, the performance flow chart gives you a good understanding of the max flow and pressure of the pump.
    • This requires a bit more knowledge to understand
  • Working off a tap, doing a bucket test gives you a good estimation of your flow rates.
  • Working off the gravity feed system, you will have to do a bucket test, but the pressure is calculated by the height of the tank above the irrigation system.
garden tap water
pressure compensator

Pressure

Most situations you will need to have a pressure regulating valve in the system, ensuring it is between the recommended operating pressure of the driptape.

  • An easy reminder for gravity feed systems is that
  • 10 Meters of Height = 1 Bar of Pressure
  • If your water tank feeding the system is 15m above the drip tape, it will have a pressure of 1.5 Bar.

Depending on pipeline size and whether the system is manual or automatically controlled, we recommend the Senninger Pressure Regulating Valve

If you have a larger pipe size, flow rates or very high pressure, you may need to go to a larger pressure regulating valve. Call our experts for advice.

Spacing and Length

A big factor in deciding the spacing of drip emitters is the plant spacing and the number of drippers you would like at each plant.

One, two or more drippers/rows of drippers, depends on how much of the root zone you would like to irrigate and how big that root zone is. Keep in mind that any rootzone not irrigated may come under stress during the dry periods.

The spacing of drip tape varies between 15cm, 20cm and 30cm. If your plants have a larger spacing you can go for the larger spaced emitters.

The length of the row is dependant on the size of the crop, but also plays a factor on how you irrigate with drip tape. Each variety of drip tape has a different max average run length.

For longer runs, it is better to have the supply line going to the middle and have the drip tape run both directions, instead of one long run.

Once you have decided the run length and dripper spacing. you can calculate the flow rate for the whole system. e.g. 15cm spacing x 65m row length x 1.5 L/hr per dripper. The flow rate per bed will be 10.8 L/min.

  • 1m / 0.15 = 6.66 drippers per meter.
  • 6.66 x 65m = 433.33 drippers per row
  • 433.33 x 1.5 L/hr = 650 L/hr
  • 650 L/hr / 60 = 10.8 L/min
Strawberry plants growing inside greenhouse tunnel.

Using this information, you can have a better understanding of the type of driptape you may require.

  1. The number and length of rows will determine the size of the coil required.
  2. The plant spacing will determine the spacing of the drip emitters.
  3. The total number of drippers will help determine the total flow rate of each bed and therefore the system.
  4. This information coupled with the available water supply and pressure will help decide the emitters L/hr.

All of this will help decide on the pipeline and zoning of the system as discussed below, although this is more complicated and may take advice from experts.

poly-pipe-guide-post-hero

Pipeline and Zoning

DIY design for an orchard/market garden irrigation system is not recommended, call one of our designers and we can see how we can help. System design can be a simple calculation for small orchards, other bigger systems will need a full computer-aided design process.

Pipe head loss is a big factor often forgotten in irrigation systems. The size of your pipeline and flow rates required will produce a pressure loss due to the friction on the pipe. this can be easily calculated, but we will need to know the distance, pipe size and type (LDPE, MDPE, PVC) and the flow rate.

Supply lines in driptape systems are dictated by the water supply required and the distance needed to traverse. 25mm lateral pipe is commonly used as the sub-main line that the driptape fittings connect straight into via grommets.

Zoning is determined by the amount of water need to run the system and the amount of water available.

e.g. If you have 15 L/min water supply, with 5 beds each using 5 L/min, you have a system needing 25 L/min and only able to supply 15. to run the system efficiently you will have to break this system into 2 zones minimum, possibly 3 depending on the water source.

Filtration

Water quality and filtration are very important for drip irrigation systems. You always require good filtration for drip irrigation even if you have very good quality water. If you have poor quality water, we need to know a bit of detail on what is in the water to decide what filtration system will suit.

Most driptape systems require a minimum filtration of 130 Micron or 120 Mesh. A disc filter is very handy in this situation as it has a removable disc cartridge that can be cleaned and reused.

Automat Disc Filters

 

disc filter

Fittings

Hand tighten the nut over top of the tape

driptape pipe fitting
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market garden driptape system

Driptape Brand Matrix

Use the following driptape product matrix to see the different varieties of driptape across the brands


Which Irrigation Dripper Works for Me?

August 14th, 2020

Which Irrigation Dripper Works for Me?

Drippers come in numerous options, and it can be challenging to decipher which one will suit your needs. Hopefully, through our guide, we can help you to select the correct dripper for your system.

Options to consider

  • Flow Rate
  • Pressure regulation or non-pressure regulation
  • Take apart
  • Filtration and self-flushing capability
drippers asta drip spike 01

How to select a Flow Rate

Drippers come in a variety of flow rates. Deciding on which flow rate depends on the following factors.

  • How much water do you have to supply?
  • How long do you need to water?
  • What size area/How many plants you are watering
  • Is the water clean or dirty?

Answering the above questions can help you determine the flow rates available for your system.

For example,

  • Water supply = 10 L/min
  • How long = 1 hr
  • Num of Plants = 10
  • Source = Clean house tap

Changing the drippers from L/hr to L/min may be helpful.

An 8 L/hr dripper is only using 0.13 litres of water per minute. you could use 75 drippers, and still be using only 9.75 L/min, within the rage of the house tap supply.

To find out the flow rate of your water source, you can calculate this using a Bucket Test.

Important Tips

  • A bigger flowrate has less chance of blocking.
  • The better quality drippers are less like to clog and have more consistent flow rates under pressure

Pressure Compenstation

Pressure compensated drippers are recommended as you can ensure the distribution of water is more even between the drippers. The pressure compensated drippers have a diaphragm inside the dripper to manage the flow. There is a variation in drippers capabilities in compensating and their accuracy, check that their range of pressure-compensating suits your needs. If you have a large block or accuracy is important, check the drippers co-efficient of manufacturing variation.

For commercial growers, having your drippers perform accurately across the board is important, so be sure to do research the dripper performance charts.

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CETA Take Apart Dripper

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Take Apart or None

Drippers come as a take-apart or button dripper. The Take-Apart drippers have a top that can be unscrewed for cleaning and unclogging in case any debris got into the line.

dripper take apart

How Many Drippers Per Plant

One, two or more, depends on how much of the root-zone you would like to water and how big that root-zone is. Keep in mind that any root-zone not irrigated may come under stress during dry periods. You need to know the water requirements of the plant, along with how many drippers per plant and the flow rate per dripper, you will be able to piece together what dripper will suit.

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Pipeline Supply and Zoning

DIY design for an orchard irrigation system is not recommended, call one of our designers, and we can see how we can help. System design can be a simple calculation for small orchards, and larger systems will need a full computer-aided design process.

Water Supply and filtration

Water quality and filtration are essential for drip irrigation systems even if you have excellent quality water. If you have poor quality water, we need to know a bit of detail on what is in the water to decide what filtration system will suit.

filter-screen-disc
dripper-matrix-8

Drip Irrigation Guides

August 14th, 2020

Drip Irrigation Guides

A collection of Guides for Drippers, Dripline and Drip tape irrigation. We are creating guides to help you decide which product is best for your irrigation system. We will be updating these guides to also help with installation tips and tricks, that we have learnt through our years of experience.


Market Garden Driptape Guide

April 24th, 2020

Market Garden Driptape Guide

In this guide, we will discuss the driptape irrigation system for a market garden growing lettuces.

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Driptape

Driptape is an effective way to irrigate your market gardens. With a thin-walled tube and built-in drippers, Driptape can be rolled out each season and recoiled at the end when harvesting is needed. Driptape is commonly used on produce like strawberries, potatoes, vegetables, pumpkins etc. Ideal for when the planting area needs to be upturned to harvest the produce. The thin-walled tube allows for easy coiling and storage for the next season.

The number of rows, litres per hour, dripper spacing, coil length and plant type are all varying factors you will need to consider when designing your system. Contact our experts on 0800 130 905 for advice.

Read our Driptape Guide here to learn more

Manual System

A manual driptape requires the user to manually open and close the ball valve to irrigate the produce. The 16mm driptape Valve is ideal for this situation. If you have a 25mm lateral line, you can use the 16mm driptape valve x 8mm Barb connection inserted directly into the lateral line. Branching off horizontally, the driptape can be screwed onto the fitting and rolled out along your rows.

This system requires you to open and close each valve manually to operate.

market garden driptape system 4
market garden driptape system 3

Automatic System

Automatic systems allow for the system to be controlled via a controller and solenoid valves. It is always recommended to have a brass ball valve before your solenoid valve in case of repairs. The solenoid valve will control the water that branches out in a 13mm lateral line to your driptape rows. The 16mm driptape valve x 13mm barb is ideal for this situation as you can further control the water and shut the water flow to certain rows in case of repairs or leaks.

An automatic system can provide precise flows to your crops and save you the time and labour to water your crops manually. The amount of water flow can determine the number of rows controlled by a single solenoid valve.

Driptape Fittings

Driptape fittings are easy to install and come in a variety of options. The most common on a market garden system is the valves and end hooks. End hooks are handy as you can hook them onto the rig to help to roll out the dripline.

Driptape valves are not necessary but are helpful if you have breaks or leaks in your line, you can quickly turn off the line with the break and still have the rest of your rows operational.

Tips:

  • Driptape is a thin-walled tube
  • Hand tighten the nut over top of the tape
driptape pipe fitting1
pressure compensator

Presssure Regulator

A pressure reducing valve is recommended for systems with high pressure. The Senninger pressure regulator is an ideal valve for the driptape system, reducing the pressure to either 15 or 10 psi with a 20mm female BSP thread.

Senninger regulators maintain a constant preset outlet pressure with varying inlet pressures, which alleviates pressure differences that can cause an applicator’s coverage area to change.

Tips:

  • Can be installed above or below ground
  • designed to handle flows from 114 to 3407 L/hr

Controller

AC or DC is the first option to consider for the orchard controller. If you have a power supply nearby, then AC is the better choice. AC controllers and valves tend to be cheaper. If you have no power options then a DC controller running 9V batteries may be your only option.

Have a read of our Controller Guide here to learn more.

hunter x2 outdoor controller
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