Every drop works

Watching your garden dry out and your plants shrivel up during the drought is heartbreaking, which is why drip irrigation could be your garden hero.

Netafim technical advisor Gary Frances said drip irrigation has been around since 1965 and has proved to work your water, not waste it.

“Drip irrigation is a process whereby water is delivered in fine droplet form directly to the root zone of plants using varying flow rates depending on the plants needs,” said Frances.

“Drip irrigation has been proven across the globe to provide as much as a 40% saving on water use. No water will run off onto the pavement or pathways, which means no water is wasted and the growth of weeds in pathways is reduced, as they are not being watered. Drip irrigation happens close to the soil, therefore you get a 30-40% water saving on evaporation.”

He said the pressure required by drip irrigation is less than that of sprinklers and as such can be used through gravity feed, provided there is sufficient height. Smaller pumps are required due to the lower flow rate and lower pressure.

“Drip irrigation can be tailor designed and installed to suit any size garden, from a small townhouse to a large industrial landscape.”

Frances said a drip irrigation system generally consists of a small pump, a disc filter, the dripper piping and fittings.

“Starting from about R2 000, you can set yourself up with a drip irrigation system. The costs depend on whether you are using a gravity feed, a pump, a water tank or directly onto the water mains.”

He said they produce dripper lines in three colours – brown for landscape, purple for grey water and black for agriculture.

“The brown colour for landscapes helps to make it more aesthetically pleasing when the plants are small, but as the plants grow, they quickly cover the dripper line.”

According to Frances, the system requires basic maintenance such as cleaning the filter weekly and a quick and easy monthly flush of the dripper line system.

“The system is very easy to use and once it is installed, a garden timer can be fitted to open solenoid valves and supply water to the dripper lines, thereby making the system totally automated.”

There you have it, with minimum effort you can water your garden, the water wise way.

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