Drip lines keep getting clogged

[Looblue1]

Hello all,
I have 10 4x4 raised beds and I have run drip irrigation to all 10 and am using well water. We have a filter at the output water source. After a time.... 2 to 3 years.... the hole in the 1/4" inch inline tubing gets clogged. I have 4 lines in each raised bed and am tired of replacing the lines and throwing plastic away. Can anyone recommend an alternative to the inline emitting system. I'd rather not redo my whole system but perhaps there something else that I can attach to the 1/2 inch tubing that sets on1 side of each raised bed edge.
Hopefully I've explained it correctly and understandably.

TIA,

Susan

 

[smitty55]

Sounds like hard water is causing the small holes to get plugged up. I would suggest soaking the lines in a vinegar solution after the season, if you can get 10% cleaning vinegar it would work even better and you could save it for the next year.

 

[Chuck]

I had the same problem in my big garden with limestone/calcium buildup except I had hundreds of yards of tubing. Each year I would place the tubing with the emitters into a washtub about 1/2 full of cheap 5% vinegar and let it set over winter and the next spring all I had to do was rinse away the vinegar inside the lines and the emitters and reassemble the lines. I never had to replace the tubing but did have to replace a few of the emitters each year. I didn't save the vinegar but I guess I should have.

 

[oneeye]

Blow air through the lines before Winter storage.

 

[smitty55]

Blow air through the lines before Winter storage.

I doubt that work help much. The mineral build up in those small holes is quite hard and like in a kettle it needs to be dissolved to break it down.