Drip Irrigation Study

摘要

The use of drip emitters to irrigate highway landscaping helps to conserve two critical resources, water and energy. The California Department of Transportation used drip emitters for many projects during the 1970s and early 1980s. The use of drip emitters has decreased since 1980 because of clogging problems. Transportation Laboratory personnel conducted a study to determine the causes of emitter clogging. Three field locations were selected to study these problems. The primary water quality parameters selected for this study were total dissolved solids and turbidity. As a result of studies at these three sites and other field investigations, it was found that waters containing high levels of total dissolved solids that were given continuous chemical treatment created the most severe emitter clogging problems. Most of the flow reduction occurred after the watering schedule was changed to twice per week for a total of 10.5 hours per week.