Why worry?

If you have a choice, pick the cleanest water for your drip irrigation. That way you avoid problems with clogging of the small openings in drippers, sprayers and dripperline. The most common ingredients of water that can cause clogging are sand, silt, algae, bacteria and dissolved minerals.

We recommend a 150-mesh filter on all drip irrigation installations. The opening size of a 150-mesh screen is about 10 to 15 times smaller than the opening size on our PC drippers. That means that any particle that passes through the filter is small enough to easily pass through a dripper opening.

The best source

Municipal water is the best source. It's been filtered and treated to eliminate sand and silt and usually contains few living organisms or dissolved minerals.

You should still use a 150-mesh filter on your drip irrigation system but it should go a long time between cleanings. You should have few problems if you use municipal water.

Second best

A deep well is often the next best source of clean water. There are usually few living organisms or algae but sometimes the water is hard, that is to say it contains dissolved minerals.

If you have to treat your water to make it soft enough to use in the house, there may be enough dissolved minerals to eventually cause a problem with clogging but it may take years for a problem to occur. Do not use water that has passed through a water softener that uses salt.

Third best

Shallow wells can deliver clean water but watch for sand and silt. A good filter and frequent cleanings should take care of that problem. Check the filter screen after a week of use. If it's dirty, keep checking it on a weekly basis. If it's clean, extend the checks to every two weeks and then longer until you get a good sense of how long it should last between cleanings.

The next best sources are deep lakes, ponds and sloughs in that order. Any open water will have a high level of microorganisms and algae which can cause problems. Consider using a disc filter. Disc filters are more efficient at removing algae and other living contaminants. They will also go longer between cleanings. They are as easy to clean as screen filters.