The Irrigation Water Management Program Team:
Craig Runyan, New Mexico State Univ., Chair, Tom Obreza, Univ. of Florida, Co-Chair,
Ted Tyson, Auburn Univ., Bob Goodman, Auburn Univ., Phil Tacker, Univ. of Arkansas,
Rad Yager, Univ. of Georgia, Jim Thomas, Mississippi State Univ., Alton Johnson, Alcorn State Univ.,
Garry Grabow, North Carolina State Univ., Bryan Smith, Clemson Univ. , Sam Dennis, Tennessee State Univ.
1. Introduction
2. Testing the irrigation water source
3. Routine maintenance of system components
3.1. Pumps
3.2. Power units
3.3. Water filters
3.4. Chemical injection equipment
3.5. Automatic valves
3.6. Pressure gauges and flow meters
3.7. Field pipe, tubing, and emitters
3.8. Line flushing
4. Introduction Water treatment to prevent emitter plugging
4.1. Introduction Biocides
4.1.1. Introduction Chlorine
4.1.1.1. Introduction Types and use of chlorine
4.1.1.2. Introduction Effects of chlorine
4.1.1.3. Introduction Injecting chlorine
4.1.2. Introduction Copper sulfate
4.1.3. Introduction Chelated copper
4.2. Introduction Acidification
4.3. Introduction Synthetic scale inhibitors
4.3.1. Introduction General information
4.3.2. Introduction Polyphosphates
4.3.3. Introduction Phosphonates and polyelectrolytes
4.3.4. Introduction Copper sulfate
4.3.5. Introduction Chelated copper
4.4. Introduction Evaluating water conditioning treatments
4.4.1. Introduction Monitoring the system to detect plugging
4.4.2. Introduction Using scale-monitoring devices to evaluate cleaning
5. Remedial maintenance for micro-irrigation systems affected by scaling or plugging
5.1. Emitter maintenance and reclamation
5.2. Purging with acid
5.3. Other purge chemicals
5.4. Evaluating system purge treatments
5.4.1. Evaluation using tubing inserts
5.4.2. Water application uniformity evaluation
6. Additional information about iron, manganese, and sulfide
6.1. Iron and manganese
6.2. Sulfides
7. Summary
8. References and further reading
Appendix 1: General summary of micro-irrigation problems and possible solutions
Appendix 2: Acidifying irrigation water to prevent calcium carbonate scale formation.....When and how to do it
Summary Acidifying irrigation water to prevent calcium carbonate scale formation.....When and how to do it