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Effects of water salinity on emitter clogging in surface drip irrigation systems

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Abstract

Saline water can be used in drip irrigation systems, thus conserving freshwater. However, the emitters used in drip irrigation are easily prone to salinity-related chemical clogging, which has become a barrier to the exploitation and utilization of saline water in this context. We therefore analyzed the behavior and emitter distribution of chemical clogging using a drip irrigation experiment comparing four water salinities (1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 6.0 dS/m) in the Hetao Irrigation District (Inner Mongolia, China). The results revealed that the clogging parameters (discharge ratio variation [Dra] and coefficient of uniformity [CU]) showed a slow–sharp downward trend under saline water conditions. Salinity had significantly negative, linear relationships with the two clogging parameters. We identified that the chemical clogging process exhibited randomness, but showed regularity where it usually occurred. Three types of chemical clogging process were identified, representing gradual, fluctuating, and sudden reductions in the clogging parameters. The highest risk location for chemical clogging was the end of the laterals, while the main site for sedimentation of the blocking materials was the core flow path of emitters. On the basis of the results, a water salinity of below 4.0 dS/m is recommended as suitable for use in drip irrigation systems.

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Funding

We are grateful for financial support from the Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant No. 51909007), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFC0403102); the Innovation ability construction project of Beijing academy of agriculture and forestry sciences (KJCX20180704) and supported by China Agriculture Research System, CARS-23-C06).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Research Center for Information Technology in Agriculture, Beijing Academy of Agiculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, 100097, China

    Zhangzhong Lili & Zheng Wengang

  2. Key Laboratory for Quality Testing of Hardware and Software Products on Agricultural Information, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, 100097, China

    Zhangzhong Lili & Zheng Wengang

  3. College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, No. 17, Qinghua Donglu, Haidian District, PO Box 57, Beijing, 100083, China

    Zhangzhong Lili, Yang Peiling, Li Yunkai, Liu Yu & Zhang Chong

Authors
  1. Zhangzhong Lili
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  2. Yang Peiling
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  3. Zheng Wengang
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  4. Li Yunkai
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  5. Liu Yu
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  6. Zhang Chong
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by LZ, YL and CZ. The first draft of the manuscript was written by LZ, PY, WZ and YL and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yang Peiling or Zheng Wengang.

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Lili, Z., Peiling, Y., Wengang, Z. et al. Effects of water salinity on emitter clogging in surface drip irrigation systems. Irrig Sci 39, 209–222 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-020-00690-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-020-00690-3

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