Services
Irrigation Maintenance
A drip system degrades predictably — filters clog, emitters block at the ends, joints leak, pumps wear. The maintenance program is the calendar that keeps the degradation slow and the system at design performance. Here's the routine, and how we run it as a service.
Why maintenance is a design feature, not an afterthought
Every component in a drip system has a wear path, and none of them fails dramatically — they fail gradually, row by row, season by season. A filter that's cleaned monthly degrades slowly; one cleaned "when the field complains" degrades fast, and the field's complaint is already a crop loss. The farms that get years of performance from a system are the ones where the routine is on a calendar and the calendar is kept — which is exactly what this service productises.
The routines themselves are short; the maintenance guide and the line cleaning guide lay them out in full. This page is the service model around them.
The routine, by component
| Component | Routine | Frequency (irrigation season) |
|---|---|---|
| Filters | Backwash (media/sand) or disassemble-and-rinse (disc); check the pressure drop; inspect media/screens | Weekly (surface water) to monthly (clean borehole) |
| Drip lines | Flush the line ends; walk the lines for kinks, punctures, animal damage; spot-check the end emitters | Flush on a schedule (weekly to fortnightly); walk monthly or after storms |
| Emitters | Spot-check a sample of emitters per zone — the end ones first, where blockage shows first | Monthly in season |
| Valves & joints | Cycle the valves (stuck-valve check); inspect joints for weeping; check the solenoid operation where automated | Monthly + at start-up |
| Pump | Check for cavitation, seal weep, intake strainer; service per the manufacturer's interval; solar: keep the array clean | Monthly check; seasonal service |
| Regulators | Verify the outlet pressure at the line end (not just the head); clean the upstream strainer | Monthly check in season |
| Fertigation | Rinse the tanks and injection line; check the injection rate; flush the line after each feeding | Per feeding (rinse/flush); weekly tank check |
Seasonal: the start-up and shutdown
Two jobs that matter more than anything on the monthly list, because they bookend the season:
- Start-up (pre-season): cycle every valve (a valve sealed for months is a stuck valve), flush every line, clean and inspect the filter, check the pump and the pressure at the line ends, verify the controller schedules. The system is proved before the crop depends on it.
- Shutdown (end of season): drain the lines where the design calls for it (cold-storage protection), clean the filter and store it, cap and coil the drip lines out of the light (their season life depends on storage more than on UV rating), winterise the pump where relevant. The shutdown is when next season's system is decided.
How the service runs
Maintenance is offered as a scheduled program rather than ad-hoc visits, because the value is in the schedule: a calendar agreed at install (built from the system's design and your water source), the visits executed on it, and a short report after each — what was done, what was found, what's coming. On commercial systems the program is the standing arrangement (the commercial guide describes it as the service model); on smaller farms it's the same routine on a lighter calendar, or — where the farmer prefers to run it themselves — the training at handover that makes the routine their own.
The program also carries the small improvements that accumulate: the flush point that got buried, the valve that needs re-seating, the zone whose schedule wants adjusting as the crop changes. A maintained system is also a documented one — the as-built stays true to the ground, which is what makes the upgrade conversations easy later.
What maintenance prevents
- The slow clog — the season-long emitter blockage that starts as a row and ends as a field. (The common problems guide opens with it, because it's the common one.)
- The pressure drift — the joint weeping, the regulator fouling, the pump degrading — each small, each compounding.
- The start-up failure — the stuck valve, the seized pump, the filtered-less first week. The pre-season check is the whole point.
- The line-life loss — the storage and handling that decide whether a multi-season line gets five seasons or two.
Related
Go deeper
Put your system on a calendar
Tell us what's installed and what your water source is — we'll build the maintenance program to match.