Comparison Between Disc and Non-Woven Synthetic Fabric Filter Media to Prevent Emitter Clogging

摘要

The aim of this research was to compare the evolution of head loss in disc (130 u0002m) and non‐woven synthetic fabricrnfilter media used to filter the water in drip irrigation systems. Two forms of treatment of the irrigation water were carried out:rnone with a chemical product (chlorine) and the other with none. The research used two different filter media: two for eachrntreatment together with a fertigation technique with organic products in both types of treatment. The chemical treatment ofrnthe irrigation water was done by chlorination, in which the source of chlorine was sodium hypochlorite. Water from an openrnreservoir was used, in which a drip irrigation module was installed. The temporal variation in water quality over one yearrnwas analyzed, taking into consideration the physical, chemical, and biological parameters of water that can cause cloggingrnproblems in emitters. The results showed that, in irrigation water, the pH and iron chemical parameters presented an averagernrisk of clogging, and the hydrogen sulfide parameters presented a high risk. The performance of the filters was analyzed byrncomparing the concentrations of the effluent on the disc and non‐woven synthetic fabric filters in relation to the efffluent'srnphysical and biological parameters. An attempt was made to follow head loss evolution in relation to the volume filtered byrnthe filters so as to make a comparative analysis. It could be seen that the evolution of head loss was more significant andrnquicker with the non‐woven synthetic fabric filter than with the disc filter. The level of clogging in the emitters was calculatedrnby means of a uniform distribution index. The test area using the non‐synthetic woven fiber filter presented the smallest levelrnof clogging and the greatest water distribution index.