Chapter 3

Advanced Pressurized Irrigation
Systems
EiT-M, School of Civil Engineering, IEC
April, 2020
Chapter Three
Design and Layout of Drip Irrigation Systems

Contents
• Introduction
• Water distribution in drip irrigation system
• Design of drip irrigation systems
• Performance evaluation of emission devices
• Installation of drip irrigation system
• Operation and maintenance of drip irrigation system
Objectives
• At the end of the chapter, students will be able to:
• Understand the design of drip irrigation systems
• Evaluate the performance drip irrigation system
Introduction
Definition
• Drip irrigation is a system in which water is
applied in relatively precise quantities and
precise times and at precise locations. i.e., entire
field is not wetted.
• Water is conserved
• There is a low pressure system
• There is a slow rate of water application Fig. 1: Water emission device
somewhat matching the consumptive use.
• There is reduced evaporation, only potential
transpiration is considered.
• There is no need for a drainage system
Introduction
Advantages of drip irrigation
• Highest irrigation application efficiency
• Increase the yield per unit of water, thereby, increases the water use efficiency
• Increase fertilizer use efficiency and therefore, reduces overall production cost
• Its operating cost is low as compared to sprinkler irrigation system
• Its operation is not affected by wind speed
• Less weed germination in unirrigated parts of the field, hence, less use of weedicide, less
labor requirement for eradication of weeds.
• Ensure uniform development of crop, excellent quality produce.
• Suitable to hilly and unlevelled areas where topography does not allow surface irrigation
systems.
• Measured and uniform application of chemicals.
Introduction
Limitations of drip irrigation
• The initial installation cost of drip irrigation system is high.
• Drip irrigation system operates under pressure that requires additional energy and thus adds
to production cost.
• Regular monitoring and maintenance of drip irrigation system is difficult for common
farmer.
• Salts may accumulate in dry zone area and leaching of salt requirement always exists.
• Poor quality of irrigation water, arise problems like algal bloom and bacterial slime in the
filtration system and may cause clogging of drippers/emitters.
• Fertilizers and chemicals used for fertigation may be corrosive to system parts.
Introduction
Components of drip irrigation
• A drip irrigation system comprises of:
• A pumping unit,
• Filters,
• Air release valves,
Head unit
• Control valves,
• Pressure gauges,
• Fertigation unit,
• Main line,
• Sub-mains,
• Flush valves, Field unit
Fig. 2: Components of Drip Irrigation System • Laterals and
• Emitters.
Introduction
Main line and sub main
Main Lines
● They carry water from the filtration system to the sub main
● Generally made of rigid PVC pipes
● They are placed 60 cm below the ground to prevent
damage to intercultural activities
● The diameter of the pipe is determined by the flow
capacity of the system
● Installation is done in such a way that pipe with larger
diameter is connected first, followed by pipes with smaller
diameter
Sub Main
● Supplies water from the main line to the lateral
● These are also buried 45 to 60 cm below the ground
● These pipes have a smaller diameter than the main line
● Depending on the plot size and crop type, there is a
Fig. 3: Main and sub main lines possibility to have many sub main pipes
Introduction
Laterals
• They supply water to the emitter
• These pipes are smaller in diameter, flexible and made of low density polyethylene
• The normal diameter of the pipes is around 12 – 16 mm
• Pipes can withstand a pressure of 4 kg/cm2
• The laterals are connected to the sub main at a calculated distance
• The ends of the laterals should not have a pressure difference of more than a 20% and a
discharge difference of more than 10%
Introduction
Emitters or drippers
• This device carries water to the root of the plants
• The size depends on the type and condition of
operation
• Made of plastic (polyethylene or polypropylene)
• The average discharge range is in between 1 to
16 lph
Fig. 4: dripper/emitter
• There are two types of drippers such as pressure
compensating and non pressure compensating
• These are fitted in the laterals or connected
externally to the laterals
• There are two types of emitters/drippers: point source (online) dripper and line source
(inline) dripper
Introduction
Point source system-online drippers
• The emitters are inserted on the outside of the distribution line
• Here the emitters work under a pressure of 0.5 to 1.5 kg/cm2 with a flow rate of 2 to 8 lps
Introduction
Line source system/inline drippers
• Drippers are inserted into the tube at the time of manufacturing the lateral tubes in the
factory
• The drippers are inserted at desired intervals as per the crop and soil requirements
• Line source emitters are suitable for close grown row crops and in gardens
• The dripper spacing is more with a discharge ranging from less than 1 to 4 lph
Its major disadvantage is the difficulty in de clogging

Introduction
Control valves
• Control the flow of water through the sub main pipes
• Installed on the filtration system, mainline or submains
• Made of PVC, cast iron or gun metal
• The minimum size of the valve ranges around 20 mm
Introduction
Filters
• It is used to filter the water in order to remove the suspended impurities from
water.
Fig. 5: Filter
Water distribution in drip irrigation system
Wetting patterns
• Unlike surface and sprinkler irrigation, drip irrigation only wets part of the soil root zone.
• This may be as low as 30% of the volume of soil wetted by the other methods.
• The wetting patterns which develop from dripping water onto the soil depend on discharge and soil type.
• Figure below shows the effect of changes in discharge on two different soil types, namely sand and clay.
Fig. 6:Wetting patterns for sand and clay soils with high and low discharge rates
Wetting patterns
• The shape of the distribution of water when applied from a point source in soil depends on
soil characteristics and gravity force.
• The soil texture,
• The soil horizontal and vertical permeability,
• Capillary suction,
• Presence or absence of impervious layers, Influence the wetting pattern of soil.
• The volume of water applied per irrigation,
• The rate of application and
• The initial moisture content
Wetting patterns
• In the fine textured soil such as clay and clay loam, the capillary forces are
strong and gravity force can be considered negligible.
• The horizontal movement may be faster than the downward.
In heavy soil
• The wetting pattern usually takes the shape of a bulb
• In the soils in between the fine and light soils the influence of capillary
suction and gravity are almost equal. Therefore, the wetting pattern will
have more or less equal horizontal and vertical elongation leads to pear
In medium soil shape
• In light soil the capillary forces are small and the gravity force has some
influence on movement of water.
• The downward movement is faster than horizontal, which causes a wetting
pattern of more elongation to downward
In light soil
• However, the soils are very complicated in nature. Soil characteristics are seldom
homogeneous. Therefore, it is very difficult to predict the exact shape of the wetting pattern.
• Schwarzman and Zur (1985) proposed the following empirical equations correlating depth
and width of the wetted soil volume to emitter discharge, saturated hydraulic conductivity of
soil and volume of water in the soil volume.
C 0.45
z= K1 Vw 0.63 s
q
0.22 Cs −0.17
w= K 2 Vw
q
Combining the two equations, w = K 3 𝑧 0.33 𝑞 0.33 Cs −0.33
Where, z = vertical distance to wetting front, m , w = wetted width or diameter of wetting front,
m, K1= empirical coefficient = 29.2, Vw= volume of water applied, liter, Cs = saturated
hydraulic conductivity of the soil, m/s, q = emitter discharge, l/h, K2= empirical co-efficient =
0.031, K3= empirical co-efficient = 0.0094
Selection of number of emitters per plant
Proportion of area to be wetted
• The percentage of area or soil volume of potential root zone to be wetted is important in
designing drip system.
• The percentage of wetting varies widely from crop to crop. It is reported that the percentage
of wetting may be as low as 25 percent (tree plants) to hundred percent to very close
growing crops (vegetables).
• Keller and Karmeli (1974) developed a guide for estimating the wetted volume as
represented in Table 1.
• Table 1 is made with the assumption of approximately 40 mm of water application per
irrigation with 0.3m fairly uniform penetration of water beneath the soil, minimum
percentage of wetting as 33 percent for single, straight, equally spaced lateral lines,
uniformly spaced distributors for coarse, medium and light soils and for various discharges.
Table 1: Guide for determining values of P (percentage of soil wetted by various discharges)
Effective Emission point discharge
spacing Less than 1.5 LPH 2 LPH 4 LPH 8 LPH More than 12 LPH
between
laterals Sl, m Recommended spacing of emission points along the lateral for coarse, medium and fine texture soils- Se, m
C M F C M F C M F C M F C M F
0.2 0.5 0.9 0.3 0.7 1.0 0.6 1.0 1.3 1.0 1.3 1.7 1.3 1.6 2.0
Percentage of soil wetted
0.8 38 88 100 50 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1.0 33 70 100 40 80 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1.2 25 58 92 33 67 100 67 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1.5 20 47 73 26 53 80 53 80 100 80 100 100 100 100 100
2.0 15 35 55 26 40 60 40 60 80 60 80 100 80 100 100
2.5 12 28 44 16 32 48 32 48 64 48 64 80 64 80 100
3.0 10 25 37 13 26 40 26 40 53 40 53 67 53 67 80
3.5 9 20 31 11 23 34 23 34 46 34 46 57 46 57 68
4.0 8 18 28 10 20 30 20 30 40 30 40 50 40 50 60
4.5 7 16 24 9 18 26 18 26 36 26 36 44 36 44 53
5.0 6 14 22 8 16 24 16 24 32 24 32 40 27 34 40
6.0 5 12 18 7 14 20 14 20 27 20 27 34 27 34 40
• Table 1 can be used by entering from the left column where spacing of the laterals are given.
• On the same line of lateral spacing the wetted percentage, P, is read in the concerned column of
certain discharge and soil type.
• Say, the spacing between the laterals is 1m. The corresponding wetted percentages are 70, 80 and
100 for medium textured soil and 1.5, 2.0 and 4.0 l/h discharge respectively.
Double lateral for each row of plants
• In tree plants, sometime the laterals are required to be used in pairs taking the plant rows in between
or the distributors used in cluster around the plant instead of using the equally spaced on the lateral.
• In such situation the value of P obtained from Table 1 may be adjusted using the following equation:
P1 S1 +P2 S2
P=
Sr
Where, Sl= the inner spacing (m) between the pairs of laterals, which should be taken from Table 1,
corresponding to P =100%, the value for given emitter discharge rate, soil type and spacing, 𝑃1 is taken
from Table 1 for S1, S2 is spacing between outer rows of laterals, P2 is taken from Table 1 for S2,
Sr is the spacing between the rows of plants, Se is spacing between the distributors in a lateral
Example 1
Design the spacing of inner rows of laterals and find the percentage of wetting of field for tree
plants spaced 6mx6m in medium textured soil. The available discharge rate of distributors is 8
l/h.
Example 2
Tree plants are cultivated at coarse textured soil with 6.5mx6.5m spacing. The distributors
fitted to the laterals pass through the plant rows and spaced 1.5m use to irrigate the plants. If
the discharge rate of the distributors is 8l/h, find the percentage of area of wetting.
Use of multiple emissions
• The shallow rooted or short duration crops suffer if water being applied from a single
distributor. The anchorage is important to tree plant.
• Application of water to tree plant at early stage may be suitable by the single distributor.
• As the tree plants grow further common sense suggests that water should be applied
uniformly around the plant bottom for the uniform development of root system in any
direction and provides better anchorage.
• This may be done by increasing the number of the distributors from one to two and two to
few and making the distributors pointing progressively outward matching with the growth of
trees from the trunk to encourage spreading of the roots.
• There may be different arrangement of distributors around the plant bottom.
• The number of emission points and their spacing is related by the following equation:
P nSep Sw
=
100 St S r
Where,
n = the number of emission points per tree,
Sep= the spacing between emission points,
Sw= the width of wetted strip, which corresponds to the Sl value taken from Table 1, giving
P=100% for the given emission discharge and soil type,
St= the spacing between trees in the rows,
Sr= the spacing between tree rows.
Example 3
Find out the wetted area in a tree cultivation spaced 7mx7m with 3 numbers of distributors per
plant, the spacing of distributors 2m and the discharge rate 4l/h of each distributor. Assume
medium textured soil.
Design of Drip Irrigation System
• Following steps are undertaken to design drip irrigation system for a given crop, area and
water availability:
• Survey of the area
• Water quality consideration
• Soil type
• Emitter selection
• Type of crop and peak water requirement
• Design of lateral, sub main and main lines
• Selection of pump
• Selection of prime mover
Survey of the area
• Survey of the area, where the drip irrigation system is to be installed, requires the following
data to be collected:
• Topography of area and relative position of highest point to the pumping unit
• Quality and quantity of available water and time of irrigation
• Power source available with farmer
• Soil type
• Crops to be grown
• Physical features on ground surface and preparation of a base map.
• Demarcation of the area where main lines, submain lines and laterals are to be installed. Main-
lines, sub-main lines and laterals should be installed in such a way that they should not interfere
with the normal tractor operations.
• Estimated cost (the system must be economical for the farmer).
Water quality consideration
• In drip irrigation system, water comes out from the emitters which have very small openings and can
be clogged due to the soil particles, salts, which are always present in water.
• So, water quality is very important criteria in designing an efficient drip irrigation system for the
area under consideration.
• Analysis of water tells about the presence of chemicals like calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate,
carbonates, silicates, sulfides etc., and suspended solids like sand, silt, clay, algae and bacteria.
• Calcium and iron precipitates are a potential problem with most of the well water.
• If bicarbonate level is higher than 2.0 meq per liter coupled with pH > 7.5, it is a major
problem for emitter clogging.
• Iron is present in water in soluble (ferrous) form. It can produce enough slime to plug emitters if
the water supply has an iron concentration of 0.3 parts per million (ppm) or greater and the pH
of water is between 4.0 and 8.5.
• Algae are common in most surface water supplies, which can also clog emitters.
• Filtration system has to be selected according to the quality of irrigation water.
Soil Type
• In designing of drip irrigation system, soil type is always determined, which helps in the
selection of emitters/drippers and their discharge.
• In light soils the distribution of the water will be narrow and deeper.
• In heavy soil the distribution of the water will be relatively in spherical shape, wider and
less deep.
Emitter Selection
• Emitter selection in designing a drip irrigation system depends upon the type of soil.
• The water from the emitter enters the soil and moves downward and sideways forming a
cone (wetting pattern).
• The size and shape of the cone are affected mainly by emitter discharge, type of soil and
duration of water application.
• Cone formation in heavy soils is shallower and wider, whereas, in lighter soils cone is
narrower and deeper.
• In loamy soil, the water will move slowly and water will spread evenly.
• In heavy soils water is absorbed very slowly and runoff can occur if water is applied
quickly because of densely packed particles of the soil profile. Therefore, there will be
more lateral movement as compared to vertical movement.
Emitter Selection cont’d
Fig. 7: Cone Formation in different Classes of Soils
The emitter selection mainly depends on the infiltration rate of the soil.
The emitter spacing decides the emitter discharge, however, the selection of emitter spacing
and discharge for different soil is given in Table 2.
Emitter selection cont’d
Table 2: Recommended emitter spacing (cm) for different soil types and emitter discharge
Usually, emitter with 2 Lph discharge is used for heavy soils. In lighter soils, which are very
loose and absorb water very quickly, no runoff occurs. Sandy soils do not hold water and thus
dry out very quickly. For sandy soils 4 Lph discharge emitter can be used.
Type of Crop and Peak Water Requirement
• Since under drip irrigation only a portion of the soil is wetted, the evaporation component
of evapotranspiration can be reduced accordingly, using the appropriate ground cover
reduction factor Kr.
𝐸𝑇𝑜 ∗𝐾𝑐∗𝐶𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑝𝑦 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
• For the design of drip irrigation systems: 𝐸𝑇𝑐 =
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦
• The value of percent area wetted is 100% for closely spaced crops with rows and emitter
lines less than 1.8m
Type of Crop and Peak Water Requirement
• Drip irrigation system designed for its maximum capacity, should consider type of crop and
its peak water requirement.
• To calculate system irrigation requirement, row to row spacing, emitter to emitter spacing
and discharge of emitters for a certain crop are needed to be decided as given below:
Area m2 ∗Emitter flow Lph
Total flow Lph =
Lateral spacing m ∗Emitter spacing m
• Application rate is defined as depth of water applied per unit time or flow rate per unit area.
• It can be calculated by following two methods:
Total flow Lph
Application rate mm/hr =
Total area m2
Emitter flow Lph
Application rate mm/hr =
Lateral spacing m ∗Emitter spacing m
Design of laterals, sub-main and main pipe
• The design of lateral, sub-main and main-line involves:
• Selection of required pipe diameter for a given length which can carry the required
amount of discharge to the plant or crop in such a way that friction loss (head loss and
velocity) should not exceed the designing criteria.
• The designing criteria is as following:
• The head loss in main and sub main pipe should not exceed 1 m/100 m and velocity
should not exceed 1.5 m/sec.
• The head loss in lateral should not exceed 20% of operating pressure of emitter.
• Availability in the market, affordability of price, and durability of material are also
important aspects in selecting an efficient and economic pipe network.
• Head loss in lateral, submain and mainline is calculated by using Hazen Williams equation
given as following:
10 Q 1.852
1.212∗10 c
hf = ∗ L + Le
D4.865
Where, hf = Friction head loss (m), c = Hazen-William’s roughness constant (given in table
3), Q = Flow rate (Lps), D = Inside diameter (mm), L= Length (m), Le= Equivalent length
of accessories (given in table 4)
• Head loss can also be calculated through Darcy Weisbach equation:
fLQ2
hf = 6.377 5
D
Where: hf = Head loss (m), f= friction factor for Darcy equation, L= Length of pipe (m)
Q = Flow in pipe (Lph), D= Diameter of pipe (mm)
Table 3: Hazen-Williams Coefficient ‘c’ for different Materials
Material Hazen-Williams Coefficient c

Aluminum 130 – 150
Asbestos Cement 140
Brass 130 – 140
Copper 130 – 140
Fiber 140
Galvanized iron 120
Plastic 130 – 150
Polyethylene, PE, PEH 140
Polyvinyl Chloride, PVC, CPVC 150
Smooth Pipes 140
Steel, welded and seamless 100
Table 4: Equivalent Length of Straight Pipe for Fitting Accessories (m)
Accessory internal 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 4.0
diameter inch inch inch inch inch inch inch
Valves Gate valve 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.7
Ball valve 2.4 3.4 4.6 5.8 6.7 8.2 11.6
Elbows Regular 90° 1.1 1.6 2.3 2.6 2.8 3.4 4.0
Regular 45° 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.7
Tees Line flow 0.5 1.0 1.7 2.3 2.8 3.7 5.2
Branch flow 1.3 2.0 3.0 3.7 4.0 5.2 6.4
Friction factor (f) in Darcy equation for different flow regimes and Reynold’s numbers can be calculated using:
64
𝑓= For 𝑅𝑒 < 2000
𝑅𝑒 Where f = friction factor
1 𝑒 9.35
= 1.14 − 2𝑙𝑜𝑔10 + For 𝑅𝑒 > 4000 e = internal roughness of pipe
𝑓 𝐷 𝑅𝑒 𝑓
1 𝑒 D = internal diameter of pipe
= 2𝑙𝑜𝑔10 + 1.14 For 𝑅𝑒 > 10000 Re = Reynold’s number
𝑓 𝐷
Selection of pump
• Discharge and head are the two important parameters for the selection of the pump in the
design of drip irrigation system.
• Pump discharge is calculated by multiplying the emitter discharge by total number of
emitters in the area.
• Head developed by the pump should be sufficient to overcome head loss in the system and
provide 1 bar head at the exit.
• Total head loss includes: head loss in laterals, sub-main, main, emitter operating pressure
and head loss in power unit and filtration system.
• Pump size can be selected using pump characteristic curves provided by the manufacturer.
Selection of pump
Motor power can be determined by

using the equation:
Q∗H
Hp =
76
Where Hp = horsepower
Q = discharge (LPS)
H = Head (m)
Fig.8: Characteristic Curves for Pump Selection

Drip Design Procedure – Step by Step (orchard)
• The following are steps for designing a drip system for orchard:
1. Collection of Basic Information
2. Estimation of Peak Water Requirement
3. Drawing of project area, selection of zone area and No. of Operations
4. Selection of emitter/dripper, and flow rate
5. No. of emitters per plant, No. of drip lines per row, optimal distance between two laterals
6. Calculation of plant area, total number of plants and minimum number of emitters per
plant
7. Calculation of total length of lateral and total No. of emitters
8. Calculation of Total Flow rate requirement (Q)
9. Calculation of Application Rate
10.Total Operational Time
• Steps for designing a drip system for orchard (cont’d):
11. Pipe Hydraulics
12. Selection and Design of Lateral Line
13. Design of Sub-mainline
14. Design of Mainline
15. Selection of Filters and other equipment and head loss
16. Calculation of total dynamic head (H)
17. Calculation of required horsepower (HP)
18. Selection of Pumps and Motor
19. Preparation of Drawing
20. Preparation of Bill of Quantities
Example 4
Design a drip irrigation system for citrus using the following data:
• Size of the field = 1 ha, shape = assume square plot of 100 m x 100 m
• Type of drippers = online, discharge of dripper = 8 LPH at 1 Kg/cm2
• Plant spacing = 6.09 m, row spacing (lateral spacing) = 6.09 m
• Maximum ETo = 8 mm/day, Kc for citrus = 0.7
• Area to be wetted as a percentage of total area = 60%, application efficiency = 90%
• Availability of electricity per day = 12 hours
• Soil type = clay loam, topography of the field = level
• Hazen-William constant = 150 PVC pipe and 140 for LDPE pipes
• Assume water source is at the corner of the field
Drip Design Procedure – Step by Step (row crop)
• The following are steps for designing a drip system for row crop:
1. Collection of Basic Information
2. Estimation of Peak Water Requirement
3. Drawing of project area, selection of zone area and No. of Operations
4. Selection of emitter/dripper, and flow rate
5. Calculation of total length of lateral, No. of emitters in one zone and total no. of emitters
6. Calculation of Total Flow rate requirement (Q)
7. Calculation of Application Rate
8. Total Operational Time
9. Selection and design of lateral line
10.Design of sub-mainline
11.Design of mainline
• The following are steps for designing a drip system for row crop (cont’d):
12. Head loss through fittings
13. Selection of filters and other equipment and head loss
14. Calculation of total dynamic head (H)calculation of required horsepower(HP)
15. Selection of pumps and motor
16. Preparation of drawing
17. Preparation of bill of quantities
Example 5
Design a drip irrigation system for cotton using the following data:
• Size of the field = 2.64 ha, shape = assume rectangular plot of 120 m x 220 m
• Type of drippers = online, discharge of dripper = 2 LPH, emitter spacing = 0.4m
• Plant spacing = 0.3 m, row spacing (lateral spacing) = 1.52 m
• Maximum ETo = 6.5 mm/day, Kc for cotton = 1.2
• Area to be wetted as a percentage of total area = 100%, application efficiency = 90%
• No. of crop rows per drip line = 1
• Soil type = sandy loam,
• Hazen-William constant = 150 PVC pipe and 140 for LDPE pipes
• Canal water is available for 2 hours and discharge is 28 lps. Farmer is interested to use
canal water only, but he can manage ground water also.
Performance Evaluation of Emission Devices
• The performance of emission devices has a vital role for the success of a drip irrigation
system.
• It is therefore necessary to test the emitters so that the designers can select the best suitable
emitters for a specific requirement and design the system accordingly.
• The different characteristics used for performance evaluation of drip emitters are:
• Manufacturing Characteristics
• Hydraulic characteristics
• Operational characteristics
• Water application uniformity
Manufacturing Characteristics
• The manufacturing characteristics of emitters are described by manufacturing coefficient of
variation and mean flow rate variation.
Manufacturing Coefficient of Variation
• This is a parameter which is used to measure the emitter flow variation caused by
manufacturing defects.
• Common causes of this variation are the inability to hold dimensional tolerances due to
molding pressures and temperature and variation in the materials used.
• This statistical parameter was given by Keller and Karmeli (1974) and expressed as:
sd
Cv =
qavr
Where, Cv is manufacturing coefficient of variation, sd is standard deviation of the sample,

qavr is average emitter flow rate, lph
• The American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) and Indian Standard Institution
(IS: 10799) have provided interpretation of classification of emitters based on the
manufacturing coefficient of variation (Table 5).
Table 5: Recommended classification of manufacturing coefficient of variation
Emitter type Cv range Classification

Point source <0.05 Good
0.05 – 0.10 Average
0.10 – 0.15 Marginal
>0.15 Unacceptable
Line source <0.10 Good
0.10 – 0.20 Average
> 0.20 Marginal to unacceptable
Mean flow rate variation
• Besides the individual emitter flow rate variation, the measured mean flow rate varies from
nominal flow rate.
• The percentage difference between actual flow rate and nominal flow rate is characterized
by mean flow rate variation and can be expressed as:
qr −qavr
Qd = ∗ 100
qr
Where,
Q d = mean flow rate variation, percent,
qr = nominal emitter flow rate, lph,
qavr = average emitter flow rate, lph
Hydraulic Characteristics
• Keller and Karmeli (1974) have shown that the emitter flow can be characterized by:
𝑞 = 𝐾𝑑 𝐻 𝑥
Where,
q = emitter flow rate, lph,
K d = coefficient discharge,
H = pressure head at the emitter, kg/cm2,
x = emitter discharge exponent
• The value of x characterizes the flow regime and relationship between discharge versus pressure of
the emitter.
• The lower the value of x, the less discharge will be affected by the pressure variation.
• The flow in simple orifice and nozzle emitters is turbulent where x = 0.5. For fully compensating
emitters, x = 0.0. The exponent for long path emitter varies from 0.7 to 0.8. For vortex emitters, x is
about 0.4. The exponent for tortuous path emitters usually falls between 0.5 and 0.7.
Hydraulic Characteristics
• The relationship between the emitter flow variation and the pressure variation is given by
q var = 1 − 1 − Hvar x
Hmax −Hmin
Hvar =
Hmax
Where, q var = emitter flow variation, Hvar = pressure variation, Hmax and Hmin maximum and
minimum pressure in the line
• When the value of x is 0.5 , true for most of the orifice type of emitters, a pressure variation of
20% is equivalent to a 10% emitter flow variation, and a pressure variation of 10% is equivalent
to a 5% emitter flow variation.
• The emission uniformity is a quantitative expression of the emitter flow variation. Another way
of calculating the emitter flow variation is by comparing the maximum with minimum emitter
qmax −qmin
flow. The emitter flow variation is calculated by q var =
qmax
where, q max & q min = maximum and minimum emitter flow variation along the line, respectively.
Operational Characteristics
• The operational characteristic of emitters includes the uniformity of water emission from
emitters. Various formulae for estimating emission uniformity are given below.
Emission Uniformity
• Emission uniformity is a measure of the uniformity of emissions from all the emission
points within an entire drip irrigation system.
• As per Keller and Karmeli (1974), the emission uniformity is given by
qn
EU = ∗ 100
qavr
Where,
EU = emission uniformity,
qn = average of lowest ¼ of emitter flow rate, lph,
qavr =average emitter flow rate, lph
Absolute Emission Uniformity
• Keller and Karmeli (1974) proposed the following formula for estimating absolute emission
uniformity:
1 qn qavr
EUa = + ∗ 100
2 qavr qx
Where,
𝑞𝑛 = average of lowest ¼ of emitter flow rate, lph,
𝑞𝑎𝑣𝑟 = average emitter flow rate, lph,
𝑞𝑥 = average of highest 1/8 of emitter flow rate, lph
Emission Uniformity
• Karmeli and Keller (1975) modified the above proposed emission uniformity formula for
testing the drip irrigation system in the field as
Cv qmin
EU = 100 ∗ 1 − 1.27
n qavr
Where,
EU= design emission uniformity, % ,
Cv = manufacturing coefficient of variation for point or line source emitters,
n = number of emitter per plant or 1 for line source emitter,
qmin = minimum emitter discharge rate at minimum pressure in the section, lph,
qavr = average or design emitter discharge rate, lph
Uniformity Coefficient
• The degree of emitter flow variation can be represented by a term called uniformity
coefficient as defined by Christiansen (1942).
• The uniformity coefficient for emitter flow variation can be expressed as
σx
CU = 1 − ∗ 100
m∗n
Where,
CU = uniformity coefficient, %,
x = absolute deviation of the individual observation from the mean discharge, lph,
m = mean of all observation, lph,
n = number of observations
Water application uniformity – Statistical uniformity
• The water application uniformity is affected by hydraulic design, land slope, operating
pressure, pipe size, emitter spacing and emitter discharge variability.
• The coefficient of variation and the statistical uniformity are used to evaluate emitter
discharge variation and to differentiate between hydraulic design and emitter performance
variation
• Statistical uniformity is used to evaluate water application uniformity within a sub main
unit or throughout the drip irrigation system
• Statistical uniformity of the emitter discharge rate is determined as
Us = 1 − Cv ∗ 100
Where,
Us = statistical uniformity of the emitter discharge rate,
Cv = coefficient of variation
Table 6: Comparison of statistical uniformity and emission uniformity
Method of acceptability Statistical Uniformity Emission uniformity

Us (%) EU (%)
Excellent 100 – 95 100 – 94
Good 90 – 85 87 – 81
Fair 80 – 75 75 – 68
Poor 70 – 65 62 – 56
Unacceptable <60 <50
Example 6
In mango orchard, sample emitter discharges were collected from 10 points along a lateral
line. The rated discharge capacity of emitter is 4 lph. The discharge collected(lph) are given as
3.75, 3.60, 3.85, 4.00, 4.12, 3.95, 3.40, 3.20 and 3.80. Estimate the coefficient of uniformity
and emission uniformity.
Installation, operation and maintenance of drip irrigation
• Drip irrigation system consists of various components. All these components are to be
designed properly as per their specifications.
• After designing the components these are to be installed properly. Many of the problems in
drip irrigation system result in due to poor installation of the drip irrigation system.
• The system needs to be maintained and operated properly for obtaining the longer or
expected life of different components of the system and trouble free operation of the system.
• The points that need to be considered during installation, operation and maintenance of the
drip irrigation system are described hereunder .
Installation of drip irrigation system
• The main items in the installation of drip irrigation system include installation of the head
assembly (control head), comprising the pumping set, non-return valve, water meter, filters,
fertilization equipment, flow control, air release and pressure release valves.
• The other items of installation include connecting mains, sub-mains, and lying of drip tape
or lateral with drippers.
• While installing the control head or the pipe network, the minimum number of accessories
such as elbows, reducers etc. should be used.
• This is required for proper maintenance of the system and to reduce unnecessary head loss
in the system due to these connections.
Filters and fertigation equipment
• A strong support in the form of hard base or concrete base along with the GI fittings should be used
for the installation of the sand and hydro cyclone filters to avoid any vibrations due to load.
• The filter size should be in accordance with the capacity of the system. This should match with the
pump discharge; under size will lead to loss and over size will add cost.
• The delivery pipe of the pump should be connected directly to the hydro cyclone or the media or
sand filter followed by the fertilizer equipment and the screen filter. All of these components should
be installed in the main pipe.
• Once the sand/screen filter is essential requirement. Suitable arrangement to collect and dispose of
the bypass material should be made.
• In pressurized irrigation system the fertilizer injection unit is located, between the sand filter (if
required) and the screen filter. The general recommendation is that the fertilizer solution pass
through at least two 90-degree turns to ensure adequate time for thorough mixing and for any
precipitate to come out in front of the screen filter. It is must that fertigation unit is installed at the
upstream end of the screen filter so as to filter the under solved matter present in the fertilizer
solution.
Mains and sub mains
• Except for fully portable system, both mains and sub mains if made out from PVC must be installed
underground at a minimum depth of about 0.5m such that they are unaffected by cultivation or by heavy
harvesting machinery. Even for systems, which have portable laterals that are removed at the end of each
season, it is common practice to install permanent underground mains and sub mains. Generally sub mains run
across the direction of the rows. The United States Soil Conservation Service has recommended the following
minimum cover of earth over for various pipe sizes (Fred Hamish, 1977):
Pipe size 1.2 to 6.0 cm diameter 6 to 10 cm diameter Over 60 cm diameter
Depth of earth cover 45 cm 60 cm 75 cm

• If the mains and sub mains are made out of materials other than PVC such as HDPE or GI, these may
not be the need to install them below the ground surface; however it is advisable to install them
underground.
• It is important to remove mud and other impurities in the pipe before fitting of mains and sub-mains
and gate valves. A ball valve is provided at the inlet end of the sub-main. After the ball valve, the air
release valve is provided. A flush valve facing the slope of the sub-mains is provided at the end of each
sub-main to facilitate sub-main flushing.
Laying of Laterals
• After the main and sub mains are installed, holes are drilled on the sub-main, according to the
grommet take off (GTO) i.e., 11.9 mm dia drill for 8 mm ID GTO and 16.5 mm drill for 13 mm ID
GTO.
• Then grommet are fixed in it and theses take off are fixed.
• Once the grommet take offs are fixed on the sub-mains, lateral/polytube laying is done as per the
design. Lateral is fixed to one end of the take off.
• Lateral placement is done according to row distance, with sufficient shrinking allowance and
extra lateral length is provided at the end.
• The drippers are punched on the laterals as per the requirement.
• Generally laterals are laid on the ground surface. Usually laterals are placed along contours on
sloping field. Burying laterals underground might be necessary or at least have some advantages
for some installations. Where this is done, the emission devices should be fixed above ground level.
except for the subsurface drip lateral.
• The downstream end of the lateral can be closed by simply folding back the pipe and closing it with a ring of
larger diameter pipe, known as end plug. This can be easily slipped for flushing.
Punching of Laterals and Fixing of Emitters
• Punching of laterals should start from sub-main. Water should be allowed to flow through
lateral so as to get bulging in pipe which makes easy punching.
• Punch the lateral sideways.
• The dripper position is fixed as per the spacing requirement.
• All the drippers should follow the same straight line.
• Do not fix the drippers on lateral until complete lateral is punched
• Drippers are fixed on laterals as per the arrows marked (if having arrow marks) and it
should be towards the sub-mains.
• While fixing the dripper, push it inside the lateral and pull it slightly. The end of lateral
should be closed with end cap.
Punching of Laterals and Fixing of Emitters
• Once the system is completely installed, it needs to be tested by allowing water to flow in to
the system.
• Before allowing the water in to the system, ensure that all the valves are open. After main,
sub mains and laterals are flushed completely close the flushed valve and end caps.
• After closing of the valves and caps check the pressure at pressure gages and ensure that the
pressure at the selected points is as per the design pressure.
• It is also required to check the working of filters, air release valves and the fertigation unit.
• Once it is ensured that all the components are functioning properly and the required pressure
exists in the system, the system is ready for use.
Operation of drip irrigation system
• When the system is in use, it is required to operate properly for long and trouble free use of the system.
• The following guidelines may be considered for this purpose:
• Keep all the design, evaluation and testing information from the designer, installer and dealer handy.
• Computer the time of operation of different sub units based on the climatological data of previous day(s) or
from the average historical data; prepare the time schedules for different valves and operate the valves
accordingly to release the desired quantity of water, compute the volume of water to be applied for each
setting/subunit and ensure that the desire quantity of water is applied.
• Check the pressure at the pressure gages regularly.
• For the se\system involving the operation of valves hydraulically, ensure proper setting of the hydraulic
metering valve.
• Operating the head valve to begin irrigation.
• Checking the system all components for proper operation, beginning with pressure readings at the control
header
• Checking the emitters, randomly for its discharge.
• Measure the emission uniformity of the system at least at the start of the irrigation season.
Maintenance of drip irrigation
• Periodic preventive maintenance of all the components of the drip irrigation system is
required for successful operation of drip irrigation system.
Emitters
• The emitter functioning, wetting pattern and leakage of pipes, valves, and fittings should be
checked regularly.
• The placement of emitters should be ascertained. If the placement is disturbed, place them in
proper position.
• If emitters do not give the rated pressure, they need to be cleaned manually either by
flushing or provide manual or automatic chemical (acid or chlorine) treatments.
• Emitters not giving the rated discharge even after flushing or the chemical
treatments should be replaced.
• Leakage through filter gaskets in the lids, flushing valves & fittings etc. aremonitored
regularly.
Filter Cleaning
• Filter is the heart of a drip irrigation system and its failure will lead to clogging of the
emitters and in turn the poor performance of the system.
• Pressure difference across the filter is used as the indicator for deciding the timing of
cleaning of the filter.
Hydro Cyclone Filter
• Hydro cyclone filter should be installed before sand and screen filter in case there is heavy
load of sand in irrigation water.
• Hydro cyclone filter requires least maintenance; however the dirt or sand, inside the under
flow chamber should be removed daily.
• Flush the chamber by opening flush valve/cap or open the main valve for thorough cleaning.
Filter Cleaning
Sand Filter
• The sand filter should be backwashed every day for five minutes to remove the silt other dirt or any other
organic matter accumulated during the previous day’s irrigation.
• Once in a week, while back washing, the backwash water should be allowed to pass through the lid instead of
the backwash valves.
• The sand in the filter bed is stirred up to the filter candles without damaging them.
• Whatever dirt is accumulated deep inside the sand bed will get free and goes out with the water through the lid.
• The need of back washing can be detected by monitoring the pressure drop across the filter.
• When the pressure drops increased to a pre-determined level, the filter should be back-flushed.
• ASAE recommends that this pressure drop should not exceed 70 kPa.
• If there is heavy load of organic matter in irrigation water, the sand in the filter should be washed thoroughly
with clean water.
• The sand filter should be filled with the sand if the level of sand in filter decreases.
• The sand may be lost in the process of backwashing or cleaning. It is advisable to procure 20% additional sand
at the time of purchase of the sand filter.
Filter Cleaning
Screen/Disc Filter
• Flushing at scheduled daily interval is necessary to maintain screen and disc filters.
• It is recommended to flush screen filter, if pressure drops more than 0.5 kg/cm2.
• Before the start of drip irrigation system, the flushing valve of the filter link should be
opened so that the dirt and silt will be flushed out.
• The filter element (screen or disc) is taken out from the filter and it is cleaned in flowing
water.
• The rubber seals are taken out from both the sides and precaution should be taken while
replacing the rubber seals, otherwise they may get damaged.
Maintenance of Fertigation Equipment
• It is always advisable to allow clean water through ventury or other injectors for 10 to 15
minutes before and after fertilizer application for uniform application of fertilizers.
• It will also prevent clogging of suction port of ventury.
• It is important to note that equipment is resistant to acid. The lid of the fertilizer tank should
be fully tightened while in operation.
• In order to check leaks between the body and bell housing in fertigation pump, clean the seal
seating and put back the seal or change and keep the position of bell housing at upright.
Sub-main and Lateral / Flushing
• It is possible that the silt or other dirt materials escapes through the filters and settles in sub
mains and laterals.
• Also some algae and bacteria lead to the formation of slimes/pastes in the sub mains and
laterals.
• The sub mains should be flushed by opening the flush valves to remove these formations.
• The lateral should be flushed by removing the end caps allowing water to pass through.
• Flushing also removes the traces of accumulated salts. The flushing process should be
terminated once the water going out is clear.
Sub-main and Lateral / Flushing
• It is possible that the silt or other dirt materials escapes through the filters and settles in sub
mains and laterals.
• Also some algae and bacteria lead to the formation of slimes/pastes in the sub mains and
laterals.
• The sub mains should be flushed by opening the flush valves to remove these formations.
• The lateral should be flushed by removing the end caps allowing water to pass through.
• Flushing also removes the traces of accumulated salts. The flushing process should be
terminated once the water going out is clear.
Chemical treatments
• Clogging or plugging of emitters/orifices is due to precipitation and accumulation of certain
dissolved salts like carbonates, bi-carbonates, iron, calcium and manganese salts.
• The clogging is also due to the presence of microorganisms and the related iron and sulphur
slimes due to algae and bacteria.
• The clogging or plugging is usually removed by chemical treatment.
• Chemical treatments commonly used in drip irrigation systems include application of
chloride and/or acid with water.
• The frequency of chemical treatment is decided on the degree of clogging and quality of
water.
• Chlorine treatment is required to remove organic and any physical materials and acid
treatment is required to remove the salt and any chemical precipitates from the system.
• As a general rule, acid treatment is performed once in ten days and chlorine treatment once
in fifteen days.
Chemical treatments
Chlorination
• When the source of irrigation water is a dam, river, irrigation channel, etc., chlorination is
recommended which kills bacteria, algae and other organic matter.
Acidification
• Injection of 30% HCl is recommended for removal of precipitated calcium salts on the inner
surface of the drip system.

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Advanced Pressurized Irrigation

Design and Layout of Drip Irrigation Systems

Its major disadvantage is the difficulty in de clogging

Combining the two equations, w = K 3 𝑧 0.33 𝑞 0.33 Cs −0.33

Fig. 7: Cone Formation in different Classes of Soils

Material Hazen-Williams Coefficient c

Motor power can be determined by

Fig.8: Characteristic Curves for Pump Selection

Where, Cv is manufacturing coefficient of variation, sd is standard deviation of the sample,

Emitter type Cv range Classification

Method of acceptability Statistical Uniformity Emission uniformity

Depth of earth cover 45 cm 60 cm 75 cm

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