Do-it-yourself drip irrigation system: the process from A to Z

How the system works

The principle of operation of drip irrigation is to directly moisten the root zone of the plant with a portion of moisture. At the same time, water is regularly supplied to the roots in small doses, so the soil does not become waterlogged and does not dry out. Such irrigation can be successfully used for crops growing in the garden in the open ground, plants grown in greenhouses, shrubs, flower beds, hedges, trees or complex lawns.

Drip irrigation promotes economical water consumption, allows you to optimally apply soluble fertilizers and fertilizers to the soil, moisture is evenly distributed and does not penetrate into neighboring areas, a crust does not form on the soil surface after irrigation. The system of such irrigation is installed on the ground surface without any excavation work. Do-it-yourself installation does not require specific skills. It is easy to dismantle at the end of the season. The use of appropriate controllers allows you to organize automatic drip irrigation, which is very convenient when the owners are away from the site for a long time.

Design

You should start the arrangement of drip irrigation systems with your own hands with the development of the project. To begin with, you should make a schematic plan for the placement of beds or individual plants in need of irrigation and indicate the location of the source supplying water. Then you need to experimentally measure the performance of the source. This is done by determining the time it takes to fill a container with a known volume. For example, a bucket of 10 liters is taken and if it is filled in 1.5 minutes, then the capacity of the source is (10: 1.5) x 60 = 400 liters / hour. That is, drip irrigation, mounted on the site with your own hands, will not be able to use more water.

After that, the amount of water that will be consumed per hour is calculated. For this, the number of droppers is multiplied by their standard flow rate. For example, drip irrigation is planned for 300 drippers with a flow rate of 2 l / h. Then within an hour you need to supply 2 x 300 = 600 liters of water. Watering with a hose with built-in drippers requires knowledge of the distance between them and the total length to calculate. So, if droppers with a flow rate of 1.15 l / h at a distance of 30 cm and a hose length of 120 meters, then the water requirement will be (120: 0.3) x 1.15 = 460 l / h.

If the source cannot provide the required consumption, then for drip irrigation systems it is necessary to allocate several separate zones where water is supplied in turn at different times. Or use hoses with a large distance between the drippers. Based on the needs of specific plants and the flow rate of the droppers, the duration of the drip irrigation is calculated. For example, tomatoes need 1.5 liters of water per day, then a dropper system with a flow rate of 1.15 l / h should work for 1 hour and 20 minutes (1.5 l: 1.15 l / h). If a do-it-yourself drip irrigation system provides for the intake of water from a plastic container, then knowing the productivity of the source and the irrigation time allows you to calculate the time of its emptying and select the required volume.

It should also be noted that when installing drip irrigation with your own hands, the length of the hoses used should be taken into account. Since the water pressure drops due to friction against the walls, even a single dropper will not be able to function at the end of a very long hose.When calculating, take into account the maximum value of the length of the hoses, which is determined from the tables of technical characteristics.

Video "How to make drip irrigation yourself"

Video instruction on the construction of a drip irrigation system.

What materials and tools will be required

Do-it-yourself installation of drip irrigation will require the purchase of a certain type of components, the number of which is determined by the calculations of a pre-compiled project. Since the system is installed on the soil surface, a knife and a punch will be required from the tools in order to cut the supply hose or tape into sections and make holes for the droppers in them. Drippers must have a water flow rate according to the needs of plants and their number is determined by calculations. Drip irrigation is impossible without a main hose and thinner hoses or tapes that supply water to the drippers. To combine them into a single system, connecting and shut-off valves are used. When equipping drip irrigation with your own hands, as a rule, they use a plastic container and a submersible pump to supply water of a certain volume. The use of the controller will allow organizing the automatic mode for operation.

Installation process

Since different crops are planted at different times, the installation of the main elements of drip irrigation systems can begin in April and, as the irrigated area expands, the elements required for irrigation can be connected. Installation begins with the installation of a water supply tank. It must be plastic, as even a small stain of rust will clog the drippers and the system will not function properly. The tank houses a submersible pump. If a programmable controller is installed for its operation, then we get automatic drip irrigation.

The main hose supplying the system is connected to the tank. To do this, a cut-in is made 10 cm above the bottom level so that the debris accumulating below does not fall into the hoses that provide drip irrigation. Also, a filter must be installed at the hose connection point. With the help of starting fittings, supply hoses or tapes are connected to the main line.

Carrying out further do-it-yourself installation, holes for droppers should be made in the supply hoses at the desired distance. Then the laid hoses are fixed with special pegs, placing the droppers closer to the plants. Plugs are installed at the free ends of the hoses.
After completing the installation, the assembled system should be tested. To do this, remove the plugs at the ends of the supply hoses and turn on the water. Such flushing is sometimes necessary even during the period of active operation. As you can see, it is quite simple to install do-it-yourself drip irrigation on the site.

Video "Everything you need to know about drip irrigation"

In this video, you can hear details about drip irrigation and tips on how to do it.