Water Treatment Methods to Prevent Clogging of Drip Irrigation Systems

According to the results of water quality analysis, different measures should be taken for water quality treatment of drip irrigation water sources for the main reasons that may cause blockage. To sum up, drip irrigation water quality treatment methods can be classified into two categories: physical and chemical. Physical treatment is to remove all organic and inorganic impurities with a particle size larger than 1/10 ~ 1/7 of the pore diameter in the system; chemical treatment is to add one or more chemicals to the water to control biological growth and adverse chemical reactions. Change the chemical properties of irrigation water. Physical treatment and chemical treatment can be carried out separately, simultaneously or in cooperation with each other.

Physical treatment of water Physical treatment can be done by clarification, filtration or a combination of both. The task of physical water treatment is to correctly determine the number of filtration stages required and select a reasonable filter form according to the solid impurities contained in the water source and the pore size of the drip irrigation system; determine the size of the filter according to the flow through the filter, and calculate the head loss; At the same time, determine the filter flushing method, flushing interval, etc.

(1) Clarification. The role of clarification is to remove larger inorganic suspended particles from the water. Reservoirs, ponds and dams have a good clarification effect; for drip irrigation systems using river water and canal water as water sources, in many cases, special sedimentation tanks or catchment reservoirs must be built to clarify the water source. Clarification is also an economical and effective method for the preliminary treatment of water quality, which can greatly reduce the content of impurities in the water. The addition of aeration in the clarification tank is a good way to remove iron and other soluble solids in irrigation water.

(2) Filtration. When water flows through a porous or porous media object (such as sand), suspended or colloidal substances in the water are intercepted by the orifices or trapped on the orifice, in the pores or on the surface of the media object. The method by which impurities are separated from the mother liquor is called filtration. Filtration treatment is one of the most widely used, economical and effective treatment methods in drip irrigation systems. It is very important to correctly select the physical treatment method of water, which should generally be determined according to the flow rate of the system, the size of the dripper flow channel and the water quality.