We use drip tape and have high iron content in our well water. We use the mesh filters which require infrequent cleaning when we use well water but needed frequent cleaning when we used water from a nearby creek as fine sand would get sucked into the line even when the intake hose was suspended a foot above the bottom. Some of our drip tape is in its 5th year. Some tape continues to works well but in the 5 th season some tape emitters seem to be plugged. The emitters have a ring of rust stain around them. I am wondering if anyone tries to clean the tapes. I do take the end caps off periodically and typically heavily rust stained water runs our for a minute or two and then clears. I have been contemplating running a dilute vinegar solution into the tapes and let it soak a bit but this seems a bit impractical and it seems one would need to lay the tape with the emitters down - we mostly have the tape laid with the emitters up. We also have plastic or mesh mulch laid over the tape - makes it almost impossible to turn the tape emitter down unless the mulch is removed. A stronger acid such as muriatic highly diluted might be another option- I have also considered using creek water again rather than well water but the well is so convenient eliminating the need to constantly check the pumps and clean the mesh filters. We use the 15 mm thickness tape. I don’t want the world to be filled with more discarded drip tape and also it is expensive to keep replacing 8000 feet of drip tape not discounting the labor to install. Most of our tape is used on honey berries/ haskap and about a tenth is used on raspberries- a small fraction is used in our greenhouse- these never seem to slow down but are only 60 feet long whereas some of the tapes on honey berries are 300 to 400 feet long- we use 15 psi pressure regulators.
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