My experience with drip irrigation like you are talking about is remote--I toured a setup in Arizona a number of years ago, and my next door neighbor converted his irrigation system to drip a couple years ago, which he kindly let me help with on occasion. So, take my comments as being from more of an observer.

The drip systems are pretty much entirely plastic. There may be some metal, but it isn't common. These systems are rated for a useful life of 15-20 years, so the corrosion resistance of the plastic would give it an advantage over metal.

I have been doing some surface drip on some trees for probably 7 years now with a used drip system. Each zone is controlled with a plastic ball valve and I have had no problems with these valves.

The T tape that I have seen is buried from 8 to 16 inches deep as you don't want to water the surface of the soil except for germination. After that, you want to keep the surface dry to help control weed germination. In addition, the tape is buried deep enough that it won't be damaged by plowing or other field operations, and being deeper helps to hide it from moles and gophers which love to chew on the tape. If you do put it shallower, you could probably pick it up in the fall and store it inside when used on a small area such as a garden. I wouldn't think it would move in the soil, although if the lines get moved or kinked, when they get pressurized they will straighten out. I have also seen drip lines laid out on vegetable crops on bedded rows and covered with black plastic. Don't know if this was T tape, though. However, with the surface use, it appeared the plastic was removed and the tubes rolled up after the crop was off. Don't think there was anything used to hold the tubes in place, though.

When it comes to the fall, my neighbor blows out the main lines and the drain line at the other end. He doesn't try to blow out the T tape itself as it has the emitters so has very little to no water in it when not running, and if ice does form it can expand inside the tubing without problem since the tubing is pretty well empty. Whether or not you use a quick connect for blowing the lines out depends on how much time you want to spend blowing the lines out in the fall.

Since my neighbor is using settled and filtered ditch water, at the end of each daily water cycle on each zone, he opens the drain valve on the drain line and blows water out for a minute or two to help clear any sediment and protect the life of his investment.

I have heard many times that the lines should receive some treatment periodically to prevent minerals from depositing in the emitters, and to control any bacteria that may be growing in the tubes to prevent them from forming gooey deposits that will accumulate sediment and plug the emitters. Usually, this is done by injecting sulphuric acid or phosphoric acid into the irrigation water one or more times during the year to achieve the desired pH of the water to remove the mineral deposits. The frequency of this will depend on the mineral content of the water, though. They also use phosphoric acid, which is a weaker acid, but also provides phosphate fertilizer to the plants. Sulphuric acid will also fertilize the soil with sulphur, if it is needed. If you don't treat the lines occasionally, you are likely to end up with deposits that will gradually plug the emitters and shorten the useful life of the tape. In a garden situation where the cost of what you are using is relatively small compared to a field situation, shortening the life of the tubes by a few years may not be a concern, but it will depend on the mineral content and other contaminants in your water.

Good luck!

Hi,

I bought a T-tape irrigation kit from Irrigation Mart (irrigationmart.com). It had all the connectors,valves and pressure reducers needed to get started. I have reused the same t-tape for the past 3 years and have had no cracks or leaks after folding it up other than what you would expect at the connectors. The kit contained a roll of 750 feet of the tape. I have found all the connectors to be durable year after year.

I used rocks in a couple of places for tie downs. Once the weather gets hot, the tape kinds of forms itself to the ground. I mulch with leaf materials and haven't had to worry about kicking the t-tape around. Tie downs can be made from 12 or 14 gauge wire from the hardware store.

I have drip irrigation in the backyard beds and go to a local irrigation supply place for 'normal' drip items, but they don't carry 'agricultural' parts/fittings (that fit this particular t-tape) here in the big city. I go to the above web site for that.

I haven't had to use a lot of supplemental watering since I started using it. I don't see any chemical buildup around the emitter slits. If the buildup was significant, I would us fresh tape the next year.

I don' think you can go wrong using this stuff.