Effects of mixing Yellow River water with brackish water on the emitter’s clogging substance and solid particles in drip irrigation

Abstract

The water shortage and soil salinization have become a great challenge for the Yellow River irrigation area. Mixing Yellow River water with brackish water for drip irrigation can be an effective solution because of the mixed water contents less sediment and salinity. However, the mixed water can still cause emitter’s clogging and significantly reduce drip irrigation system performance. In order to find out a proper method of relieving the emitter’s clogging in drip irrigation and increase the efficiency of irrigation water utilization, three different types of water including the Yellow River water, brackish water, and mixed water of Yellow River water and brackish water at the mixing ratio of 1:1 were used to cultivate the emitter’s clogging substance. The results showed that the clogging substance growth is a “S-curve.” The mixing of Yellow River water (YR) and brackish water (BW) can mitigate the formation of the clogging substance as the dry weight on mixed water was 6.07 mg/cm2, which was 47.38–65.71% less than YR and 26.53–47.40% less than BW. Moreover, the Si deposit had significant effect on the clogging substance in the condition of YR and the Ca/Mg deposit had significant effect on the clogging substance in the condition of BW. There was no deposit that had significant effect on the clogging substance in the mixed water. The contents of sediment and ions were reduced significantly after mixing Yellow River water and brackish water. The result can be helpful to facilitate utilization of brackish water in Yellow River irrigation area.