Types of Water Filter Systems for Irrigation

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Types of Water Filter Systems for Irrigation

17 February 2017
 Categories: Construction & Contractors, Blog


Whether you undertake large scale irrigation or a small sized irrigation setup at home, water filtration plays a vital role in the irrigation process. For instance, your irrigation system can clog or break down due to an accumulation of tiny particles found in water.  Hence, a water filter system saves you a lot of money and time that could go into the repair of the irrigation system.

•    Why use water filters systems in irrigation?

One of the most common problems affecting household irrigation systems without filters involves sprinkler heads getting plugged by sediments. The sediments may include sand particles dirt or organic matter. A plugged sprinkler head translates to no water supply for the affected area of the kitchen garden or lawn.

Irrigation systems get utilized to distribute water, and occasionally they include pumps. Without a water filtering system, the sediments can also affect the functionality of various components of the irrigation system such as the water pump.

•    Practical solutions for water filtration system for irrigation

a)    Screen water filters. Screen filters commonly get used in irrigation systems because they are cheap and very effecting in removing sand particles present in irrigation water. However, screen filters do not get recommended for removing organic materials because the particles are too minute and they can slip through the filter. A screen filter is cleaned by either removing it ad brushing it by hand or flushing it with streaming water.

b)    Media filters. These types of filter work by forcing water through an area filled with sharp-edged medium. The purpose of the sharp edged media is to trap minute and slippery organic matter present in the water. Cleaning media filters involves reverse flushing the filter with water to free the trapped organic matter.

c)    Centrifugal filters. Also known as sand separators, these water filters are utilized primarily for the removal of sand particulates in water. In this type of water filter system, periodic emptying of the sand chamber is the only cleaning required because there is no screen filter. However, a backup filter gets added when using a drip irrigation system.

d)    Disk Filters. These types of filters get characterized by a combination of screen and media water filters. As a result, these filters are very effective in the removal of both sand particulates and organic matter from irrigation water. Disk filters can get cleaned either manually by separating the disks and flushing out the debris, or automatically by water filter system.

e)    Cartridge water filters. These types of filters have a coarse filtering paper which looks a lot like a screen filter. The roughness of the cartridge filter paper facilitates the removal of organic materials from the water. Unfortunately, clean and reuse doesn't apply to cartridge filters. Hence, when the paper fills up with debris, you have to replace it with a new one.

For more information, contact companies like Coastal Pumps & Irrigation.