Operation time for cleaning of lateral lines in function of velocity of water and two topographical conditions

Abstract

The cleaning of the pipes with water is an essential activity for success in trickle irrigation, because it contributes to the clogging of emitters, that is a serious problem found in these irrigations systems, because clogging complete or partially can reduce application uniformity. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to establish operation time for cleaning of lateral lines, for different particle size and sample weights under flat and -2% slope condition, considering different velocities of water. Samples of a clay soil were inserted at the beginning of the lateral line of a 20 m polyethylene pipe. At the end of pipe, particle recovery was realized using a cloth filter. It was observed that the initial amount of clay material did not present significant effect in displacement time, considering the water speed of 0.3 m s^-1. The condition of -2% of slope, for speed of 0.7 m s^-1 did not present risk for obstruction of the water flow, considering that the particles of larger diameter took a greater time to be collected than the smaller ones. In all condition studied, a period of 15 min is enough for cleaning the pipe. The water speed of 2 m s^-1, in a plane condition and of maximum length, considering an operation time of 1 min, can be adopted in field conditions, for cleaning the drip irrigation system.