How to Install Drip Irrigation System?
Drip irrigation is an efficient irrigation method that can help your garden plants nourish by means of offering water drips at the root levels. This precise amount of water drops helps in maintaining moisture level in the soil which becomes conducive for the growth of the plants. It is easy to use drip irrigation system and very simple to install as well. Learn some basic installation tips and do it yourself.
Drip irrigation is made up of a number of components just as tubing, emitters, valves, timers, filter, pressure regulator, backflow preventer etc. These irrigation equipments can be purchased from garden supply stores.
Installation Tips:
After you get hold of required irrigation components, plan out your system design according to your garden requirement. Here are some of the tips that will help you install your own system easily:
1. Preparing Your Supply Line
You can lay out the pipe between your garden plants. You can run a single line right through the entire landscape. Make your task easy by making the supply line short by installing a tee to split it.
2. Installing the Emitters
Proper placement of the emitters is important. You can place them at the base of the plant because all the roots of newly planted trees are in the root ball. And for the established old plants, you can position the emitters throughout the root zone of the plants so that water can run to and beyond your drip-line.
Use punch if you wish and make a hole to push the emitter into the supply line. Use feeder lines to place emitters at the base of the plants. You can insert the connection barb into the hole if you wish and after that you can attach the feeder line to the barb.
3. Flushing Your System
During installation, soil and debris get into the line that may cause for clogging up your emitters. And therefore, it is important to flush your system before committing to your watering task. To do so, leave the ends of the tubing open and let water run through for several minutes.
4. Closing the Supply Line
You can close your supply line by bending over the end and crimping the pipe. You can use duct tape to tape the end in place.
5. Adjusting Your Emitters
You need to run your system in order to check whether your emitters are working or flowing properly at the base of your plants. You can also adjust the flow of your emitters if you’ve installed mini-prays. It is more important to check the emitters or feeder tube since they can blow out if they are not perfectly snapped into place.
6. Burry Your Supply Line
Burying the supply line is an easy task. Cover your tubing with the help of mulch with a view to hide it from the sight. Suppose your line widens across the turf, then better you should use a spade to open up a wedge so that you will get the line below the surface.
7. System Maintenance
In order to get the maximum out put from your drip irrigation system installed by you, you need to maintain it regularly. It is better to check your system once in a month to find out leaks and plugged emitters. You should check out the filter and clean it for better performance.
These are the important tips to consider for installing a drip irrigation system. It is not only trouble-free to install but also cost-effective that helps sustain the moisture level, creates conducive atmosphere for the growth of plants and more importantly saves water! Now, you have to decide which one will be useful for your irrigation task – sprinkler system or drip irrigation?