A friend was asking about setting up his drip system before adding more trees and a garden. That caused me to think that it would be good to explain a little about drip systems for those who are not familiar with drip irrigation. In California, we began using it 40 years ago. It is more efficient for most irrigation than sprinklers or flood irrigation.
When setting up a new system, the parts involved are the water lines, both pvc (most common) and black tubing, electric valves, pressure regulators, filters, emitters, and a control timer to turn on and off the valves that allow water to flow to the various locations. Depending on where the valves are located will determine how much wire is needed to run from the control box to the valves.
Before any system would be set up, there needs to be some planning as to where you will planting either trees or plants. There are many options in setting up the system. Even if there will be only a portion of the available land being planted, future expansion ought to be considered when setting up the original system.
We will use this thread to share some principles that will help those who want to give drip irrigation a try..