When drip irrigation was introduced in the United States to farmers and homeowners roughly 20 years ago it was pro¬moted as the environmentally correct choice. Drip irrigation would conserve water by delivering water efficiently to a plant’s root zone, minimizing runoff, and lowering evapora¬tion losses. Though water conservation has continued to be one of the greatest benefits of using a drip or micro irrigation system, many growers who experimented with drip in the early days were frustrated by problems with the technology that have in the last several years been addressed and in large part eliminated.

One of the earliest drip irrigation prod¬ucts to reach the market was a black plastic hose made from recycled ground up tires. The idea was that this porous hose would gently weep water along its length and evenly distribute water. Many users found however that was these hoses “oozed” at frustratingly uneven rates which often resulted in dimin¬ished crop yields.  Porous hoses also clogged easily when soil and debris were sucked into them when the water was turned off.

Today these soaker hoses have been replaced by superior products like T-Tapeand Inline Emitter tubing. Intended for row cropping and raised beds, T-tape provides excellent uni¬formity of water distribution on level rows up to 550 ft, oper¬ates at low pressures (between 2-15 PSI) reducing pumping costs, and features specially designed outlets that virtually eliminate start-up plugging from soil or debris contaminants. Also, specialized valve fittings can be used with T-Tape allowing individual rows to be shut off during the growing season or after harvesting. 

Inline Emitter tubing is heavier, walled tubing with pressure compensating emitters inserted in the tubing at the factory.  It will last 8+ years exposed to sunlight, and longer if mulched over.

Another complaint many people had with early drip systems was the hard to use and often poorly made plastic compression fittings and the barbed fittings that required the use of clamps. Today, though those fitting options still exist, Easy Loc fittings have given drip system users an easy to use alternative. These high quality fittings can be easily taken apart to allow changes in the system layout, can be hand tightened, but still hold at higher pressures.

While these early problems were being addressed, other advances were being made in the areas of fer¬tigation and electronic timer development that have allowed drip irrigation to become more effective than ever giving growers more time, higher crop yields and increased financial savings. Adding a fertilizer injector to an irrigation system allows for the easy and economical application of fertilizer at the appropriate rates and reduces labor costs usually associated with that aspect of farming. Additionally, today’s electronic timers allow for variable watering cycles and can be used for almost any growing application making them an especially useful tool for growers producing a variety of crops.

Commercial growers have been presented with many new technologies over the years that have promised to make the business of farming easier and more lucrative. Not all have delivered on this promise, but as the years have
passed it has become clear that drip irrigation is a technology that is here to stay and one that has helped farmers grow high quality, valuable crops. The slow, regular and uniform application of water delivered by a drip system produces robust, consistent plant growth and helps avoid the too dry/too wet cycles that stress plants and retard growth. Additionally, the direct application of water to the root zone limits available water in surrounding soil and helps reduce weed development. And of course, drip irrigation has been proven year after year to save water, allowing many users to save up to 50% over conventional irrigation systems. GG

DripWorks owners Leon Springer and Jerry Jordan, seeing the need for quality drip irrigation components and the availability of compatible products, started DripWorks in a basement in the fall of 1991. They have over years of experience in the design and technical support of drip irrigation systems. For more information call 800.522.3747 or visit www.dripworksusa.com.