How to start a drip irrigation system

Transcription

1 Hw t start a drip irrigatin system We have made an utline belw with what we think are the best steps t help yu start yur drip irrigatin prject. Please understand that all applicatins are different and we cannt make this sectin abslutely perfect fr all situatins. If yu d nt find the exact infrmatin that pertains t yur applicatin, read thrugh this sectin anyway and yu shuld be able t figure ut what yu will need t d fr yur particular needs. Mst f all remember this shuld be fun and relaxing s dn't get stressed trying t figure ut every little detail. Almst all f the cmpnents f a drip irrigatin system can be taken apart and reused if yu make a mistake. S relax and enjy!! Planning yur System Water Supply The first step in planning a system is figuring ut the watering znes. T d this yu must take inventry f the available water supplies which will feed yur znes. (Each watering zne is a cmplete drip system cnnected t a water surce. The znes may be cnnected t a multiple zne manifld) If yu have a single water surce n the back f yur huse and yu need t supply water t 4 watering znes in the frnt f yur huse yu will have t d sme serius cnsidering f yur ptins. Mst f the time yu will have at least ne r tw water supplies fairly clse t yur planned drip system(s). Rules f the Rad N matter what else we all have t bey the laws f physics s here we will explain the limitatins yu can run int. Obey these rules and yu will never g wrng! Rule 1: Yu cannt exceed yur water supply! If yu nly have 100 gallns per hur (GPH) f water supply (example nly) then yu cannt make ne system/watering zne that uses 200 gallns per hur (GPH). Just cmmn sense! What yu can d in this case is t make mre than ne watering zne frm the same water surce divide and cncur! Rule 2: Yu must have sme water pressure, but nt t much! Mst hmes have between 40 t 60 PSI (Punds per Square Inch). This is just fine fr a drip system, in fact it is mre than yu want but this is gd! On a drip system yu always want t have the pressure between 20 t 30 PSI and sme preset pressure regulatrs. Rule 3: Only a certain amunt f water can flw thrugh a given size pipe at a set pressure!

2 This ne sunds serius but it is simple and ne f the numbers/rules t memrize. Rule 4: Yu cannt g an unlimited distance n a single plytube! Even if yu have a single dripper at the end f a line yu cannt run any distance yu want. This is where the laws f physics get in the way again! Fr every "X" amunt f feet yu run the plytube (r any pipe) yu will lse a certain amunt f pressure due t "Frictin Lss. The maximum line lengths allwed are listed fr almst all the drippers and micrsprinklers. Check the individual prducts infrmatin page t see thesekeep these rules in mind and yu shuld have n prblems in planning yu system. Calculating yur water supply. T plan yur system crrectly yu will need t find ut yur available water supply (hw many gallns per hur yur system prduces). T d this, fllw these steps. 1. Turn n the water supply all the way 2. Place a 5 galln bucket in the water flw fr set amunt f time. We will use 30 secnds as an example. 3. At the end f 30 secnds take the bucket ut f the water flw. 4. Turn ff the water supply. 5. Check the bucket and estimate the amunt f water in it. Or measure it with a galln milk jug. 6. We will use an example: Let's say 1/2 f the bucket is full, remembering that ur bucket hlds 5 gallns...1/2 full must be clse t 2.5 gallns. Take the amunt f water in the bucket and multiply it ut s yu will knw hw much it wuld have been if yu left the bucket under the water flw fr a full minute. In ur example we have 2.5 gallns in 30 secnds, r half a minute. Because we want the number f gallns per minute we use the calculatin 2.5x = 5 gallns. If we had gtten 2.5 gallns f water in 15 secnds then we wuld have dne 2.5 gallns x 4, because 15 secnds is _ f a minute. 7. Take yur answer frm step 6 (abve) and multiply it by 60. Our example wuld be 5 x 60 = 300. The 60 is fr 60 minutes because we want t find the Gallns per Hur (GPH) ttal water available. In ur example we have 300 gallns per hur (GPH) available fr ur system. Examples: Gallns f water in the bucket Secnds the water ran fr T figure multiplier Equatin 1/2 Galln 5 Secnds 60 5 = 12 (.5 x 12)(60) = 360 GPH

3 1 Galln 10 Secnds = 6 (1 x 6)(60) = 360 GPH 1.5 Gallns 15 Secnds = 4 (1.5 x 4)(60) = 360 GPH 2.5 Gallns 30 Secnds = 2 (2.5 x 2)(60) = 300 GPH Nw be aware - if water was being used in anther area frm the same water surce, we wuld have t anticipate that the actual available water supply will be a little less. This wuld be the case if smene takes a shwer r washes clthes. Generally, this shuld nt really affect us, but keep it in mind if yu decide t take yur system t the maximum. Yu shuld always allw sme leeway here! Making yur watering znes Nw that yu knw what amunt f water supply yu have and the basic rules f physics that limit yu yu're ready t start planning yur watering znes. As we tuched n abve, a watering zne is a single drip system supplied by a water surce. Yu can have multiple watering znes supplied by ne main water surce. This is accmplished by using a manifld t regulate each individual watering zne. Yu will have t determine if yu can pen and run mre than ne watering zne at the same time by hw much water supply yu have n the water surce feeding the manifld. Mst times yu will want t pen/run nly ne watering zne at a time. Frm yur water supply r manifld, yur single watering zne will be limited by the amunt f water that can flw thrugh the size plytube yu use. Nw t see hw much f an area yu can water with yur single watering zne, yu must step back and take a lk at hw yu will water each plant r area. It is a gd idea t make a drawing f yur plants and their lcatin (rughly). Mark next t each plant n the drawing in pencil the flw rate f the dripper(s) r micrsprinkler yu plan t use. In this way yu can then add up grups f plants and make sure the ttal flw needed will nt g ver the amunt yu can supply. One f the ther factrs t keep in mind when planning yur znes is the watering duratin. We will nt get t deep int this right nw, but it des matter when setting up znes. Each zne will be watered fr a set amunt f time. With this in mind it is wise t plant yur plants in znes based n their similar water needs. Plan ut the different znes as clse as pssible s they make sense t yu. Als make sure t lk at the next sectin which will help yu decide n either using f micrsprinklers r drippers.

4 Drippers r Micrsprinklers? We need t start this sectin ff by letting yu knw it is up t yu and what yur plants like. There is n exact answer n whether t use micrsprinklers r drippers n particular plants. We will suggest what is mst cmmn, but the last wrd is yurs and that f the plants. We knw f grwers that nly use drippers n palm trees (we are in San Dieg, f curse) but ne f ur emplyees has fund that n his prperty sme grw better with micrsprinklers...g figure! Cmmn usage is as fllws. Shrubs, larger plants and sme trees d better with drippers while grund cver, smaller flwers, flwerbeds and sme trees with shallw rt znes like micrsprinklers. The gd and the bad The gd thing abut using micrsprinklers is that they cver a large area all at nce withut having t place a tn f drippers in plytube. The bad thing is that they can water mre area than yu need, which can prmte weed grwth. Abut Drippers. Drippers cme in tw basic styles: pressure cmpensating (PC) and nncmpensating. Pressure cmpensating (PC) drippers will give yu the same amunt f water flw within a range f pressure. A dripper will be rated smething like this: will give 1 GPH between 15 and 55 PSI. Pressure cmpensating (PC) drippers are made in a way that they can autmatically flush themselves ut during startup and shutdwn, t a certain degree f curse. This equates t a lnger lifespan and mre cnstant flw during the lifetime f the dripper. These drippers shuld be used n larger systems where the gal is t maximize the amunt f plytube length and ttal drippers n a single line while maintaining a very clse flw frm each dripper. They are als better if slight elevatin differences ccur in the system. These drippers are mre expensive than ther types. Nn-cmpensating drippers will give yu the same amunt f flw depending upn the pressure at each dripper. In ther wrds the higher the pressure the mre flw the dripper will give. The lwer the pressure the less flw the dripper will give. These drippers cannt self flush and need very gd filtratin t wrk well ver a lnger perid f time. The life span is less than the cmpensating drippers and elevatin differences cause pressure differences that will cause drippers t give slightly different

5 flws. These drippers wrk well fr smaller systems where water quality is gd and n elevatin differences ccur. Abut micrsprinklers Micrsprinklers are rated by the water flw, the wetting area in diameter r radius and als the degree f spray it gives. The diameter is the distance acrss a full circle. The radius is the distance frm the center f the circle t the edge. The degree f spray is the prtin f a full circle it will water. a 360 sprinkler is a full circle. A 180 is a half circle and a 90 is a quarter f a circle. Micrsprinklers cme in all different flw rates and diameters frm the very small t the very large, alng with varius degrees f spray. Yu will have t match up the micrsprinkler with the area yu wish t water by evaluating the diameter and the degree f the spray it gives plus the amunt f flw needed fr the plant. Nte that sme micrsprinklers have a set degree f spray and sme have interchangeable heads t adjust t ther degrees r spray patterns. Tutrial frm