Irrigation
driplines are utilised throughout the world's horticultural industries
for a broad variety of crops. These include grapes, olives and
tree crops.
All systems
face to a greater or lesser degree a set of common needs:
Flushing the irrigation dripline
Maintaining
the driplines in close proximity to the plants
Temperature
expansion and contraction
Sediment
build-up
Efficient
Flushing the dripline
Irrigation dripline flushing is achieved by opening the end of the line, allowing water under pressure
to flow out, thus flushing the sediment. A variety of approaches are adopted
as endstops for the dripper lines. These range from simply bending the
line back on itself and securing with a rubber band (eg a section of bicycle
tube), to inline valves, or in rare instances, by the use of custom made
flushing valves. Bending the line back on itself leads to problems of leakage
and line cracking and breakage.
The Solcor Multistop
lateral end stop valve utilises an entirely different principal
with a slide valve arrangement. It is complete with restraining
and suspension facilities. Suitable for 13mm, 15.2mm, 17.6mm and
20mm (with crayclip) lateral, its double ribbed design eliminates
the need for clips in most applications. Its principal benefit
is its versatility, simplicity, multi-functionality and labour
saving. It is best used in combination with the specially formulated
UV and spray resistant Solcor solid core rubber cord where the
following benefits are achieved.
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Maintaining
driplines in close proximity to the plants
The driplines are subject to disturbance by crop maintenance procedures (cultivation,
spraying etc), wind, and heat shrinkage and contraction. The Solcor Multistop
valve in combination with the specially formulated UV and spray resistant Solcor
solid core rubber cord maintains driplines in position.
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Temperature
expansion and contraction
This can represent a major problem. Driplines expand and contract in excess of
1% of the length of the line. In New Zealand lines are up to 600 metres in
length.
The Solcor Multistop in combination with the UV and spray resistant Solcor
solid core rubber cord keeps tension on the line as it expands with increasing
temperatures.
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Sediment
build-up
Irrespective of the efficiency of filters, sediment build-up is an almost universal
problem for dripper lines. In areas where irrigation water is obtained from
artesian bores and dams, sediment is a real problem during drought conditions.
Sediment and sludge build up also occurs when the lines are used for fertigation.
This
requires intermittent flushing of the lines, ideally two times per year. Because
of the difficulty of flushing using current techniques, this is often undertaken
just once per year because of the complications and labour intensive nature
of the current options.
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Efficient
The Solcor Multistop allows quick, effective dripline flushing with reduced labour and
staff strain.
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