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Guide

Seven causes of drip irrigation failure.

Most drip systems that disappoint, in a hotel's flower beds or along a farm's rows, do not fail all at once. They drift: some beds or rows get less water, then some get none. These are the seven causes we look for.

The seven causes

The pictures below are illustrations of each fault, not photographs of an ASFA IRRIGATION NG project.

Blocked emitters

Sand, silt, algae or mineral scale block small outlets. Good filtration, matched to the water, is the first defence.

Illustration of a drip line beside a tomato plant, with a magnified cutaway showing sand and algae blocking the emitter's channel.
Blocked emitters: sand, silt, algae or scale narrowing the channel.

Wrong pressure

A network designed without the hydraulics worked out gives the beds or rows near the pump too much water and the far ones too little.

Illustration of a drip line along a tomato row, with two cups catching drips over an equal time near the pump and at the far end, showing an uneven amount collected.
Wrong pressure: an uneven amount of water collected near the pump and at the far end, over the same time.

No flushing

Dirt collects at the ends of the lines. Lines and mains need to be flushed on a routine.

Illustration of a person checking a drip line's end cap, with a magnified cutaway showing sediment settled inside.
No flushing: sediment settling at the end of the line.

Mineral and fertiliser deposits

Iron and calcium in the water, or fertiliser that reacts with it, can coat and block the system.

Illustration of a drip line fitting beside tomato plants, with a magnified cutaway showing mineral and fertiliser deposits inside the emitter.
Mineral and fertiliser deposits building up inside an emitter.

Air and vacuum

Without air valves, trapped air disturbs flow, and a vacuum can pull soil back into the emitters.

Schematic illustration of a pipe with trapped air at a high point during operation, and soil drawn into an emitter at shutdown.
Air trapped at a high point while running, and soil drawn in at shutdown.

Physical damage

Rodents, hoes and spades, mowers and strimmers, foot traffic and sun can cut or crack pipe and drip line. In a garden, drip line kept under mulch is out of the sun and out of the way.

Illustration of a drip line cut by a hoe, with water spilling onto the soil instead of reaching the plants.
Physical damage: a cut line loses pressure and wastes water.

No maintenance and no spares

Without a routine and spare parts, a small fault stays a fault.

Illustration of a person examining a broken drip line fitting beside a box of spare parts, with wilted plants further down the row.
No maintenance or spares: a small fault left unfixed, until the row wilts.

What prevents most of them

A design that works out the hydraulics, filtration that suits your water, careful installation, and a maintenance routine that someone owns. Choosing products that last, and having parts and support available, matters as much as the design.

See landscape irrigationSee farm irrigation

Next step

Is your system uneven?

Tell us what you see, through the form or on WhatsApp, and we will say what to check.

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