How to stop drip lines and sprinkler heads clogging up

You set an irrigation system up so you can stop thinking about watering, and then one morning the water is barely trickling, half the bed is dry and the plants are giving you the side eye. Nine times out of ten it's a blockage, and blockages are the one irrigation problem that is almost entirely preventable.

Why drippers and sprinklers block up

The usual culprits are grit, sediment and mineral build up. If you're running untreated water, or you're on hard water that leaves white marks on the taps, the minerals slowly narrow the outlet until nothing much gets through. Add the debris a garden makes on its own, leaf litter and good old red dirt, and small insects that crawl into anything with a hole in it, and you can see why the small openings go first.

Drippers are the most vulnerable because the hole is the smallest. Sprinkler heads take longer but they go the same way, and you usually notice as an uneven spray pattern rather than a full stop.

Six things that keep it flowing

1. Put a filter in

A filter sits between the tap and the system and catches the sand, grit and debris before it gets anywhere near a dripper. An inline filter is a few dollars and it is the single cheapest thing you can do here. If you're setting up a new run, put it in at the start rather than adding it after the first blockage.

2. Flush the lines

Open the end caps on the dripline, run the water hard for a minute and let whatever has settled in there wash out the end. It takes two minutes and it shifts the sediment that would otherwise work its way into an emitter. Do it at the start of the watering season and again halfway through.

3. Buy gear that is built to last

The cheapest dripper on the shelf is usually cheap because the tolerances are loose and the plastic is thin. Pressure compensating drippers cost a bit more and they keep a steady flow along the whole run, which matters on a long line, and some designs flush themselves each time the water turns on.

4. Watch your water source

If your supply is high in minerals, the build up is slow and steady and you'll see it as a gradual drop in flow rather than a sudden stop. If you're pulling from a rain water tank, keep the tank clean and put a filter in before the water gets to the system, because tank water carries more sediment than mains water.

5. Look at it while you're out there

When you're watering by eye anyway, run the system for a minute and walk the line. Look for a head spraying unevenly, a dripper doing nothing, or a wet patch where a fitting has let go. If a sprinkler is blocked, pull it off and rinse it under the tap, and use a soft brush or a pin on anything stubborn.

6. Give it a date

Maintenance that has no date on it does not happen. Put two checks a year in the calendar, one before the hot weather and one after, and do the flush, the filter clean and the walk in the same half hour.

When it is not a blockage

If you've flushed, cleaned and checked and the flow is still wrong, the problem is usually pressure rather than dirt. A run that is too long for the pipe size, a tap that isn't opening fully, or a split in the line somewhere out of sight will all look like a blockage from the dripper end. Bring us the details of your setup and we'll work through it with you.

Shop related products

Did you know we also stock 13mm and 19mm inline filters, Pope precision drippers, adjustable flow drippers and hold down stakes in the shop. Not all of it is listed online, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.

The rest of the irrigation fittings sit in the garden centre, and if you're not sure what has gone wrong, bring in a photo of the setup and we'll have a look.

More from the garden

Irrigation is one of those jobs where the fix is usually simpler and cheaper than you're expecting. Ask me in the shop, I'm usually there.

Cheers,
Candeece

Back to blog

More Gardening Greats

View all

Blog posts

View all
1 3
View all