Clogging is a major constraint to the agricultural reuse of produced water; however, ultra-low-frequency dynamic electronic pulses (EPs) can help control biofouling in drip emitters. This study aimed to evaluate the reduction in clogging in non-self-compensating emitters applying onshore oil-and-gas-produced water treated with EP. Three experimental benches were assembled using drip irrigation units supplied with different water sources: water supply (WS), produced water with EP (OPW + EP), and produced water without treatment (OPW). Hydraulic performance was monitored every 40 h for 400 h using average flow rate variation (AFVR), flow variation coefficient (FVC), and distribution uniformity (UD) indices. Data were analyzed using RT-1 analysis with Bonferroni post hoc tests. Results showed that the interaction between water sources and evaluation times significantly (p ≤ 0.01) affected the hydraulic indices. After 400 h, the indices ranked as UD and FVC: WS > OPW + EP > OPW, and AFVR: OPW + EP = WS > OPW. Although OPW presented a low risk of clogging, the application of EP mitigated the obstruction and maintained higher uniformity by reducing clogging. These findings demonstrate that ultra-low-frequency electronic pulses are an innovative anti-clogging technology and provide insights for the sustainable application of produced water.

Water scarcity in Brazil’s semi-arid region necessitates the agricultural reuse of aquaculture effluents, although emitter clogging remains a challenge. This study evaluated clogging mitigation in drip irrigation systems using liquid anti-clogging fertilizer. The experiment employed a split–split–plot scheme with three water treatments (supply water, aquaculture effluent, and effluent with liquid fertilizer) and three emitter types (ST, SL, and GA), assessing performance over 360 h. A water quality analysis at 0, 160, and 360 h complemented hydraulic evaluations of the average flow rate variation and Christiansen uniformity coefficient measured every 40 h. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize biofouling. The results showed that the liquid fertilizer mitigated the clogging by biofouling in the three types of emitters, but only the ST emitter presented acceptable hydraulic performance rates. There are relationships between the anti-clogging effect of the liquid fertilizer, the structural characteristics of the emitters, and the flow velocity inside the labyrinths. The SL dripper applying only aquaculture effluent presented the highest clogging rate due to biofouling. Agricultural reuse is a strategy for the rational use of water resources that is of great relevance for arid and semi-arid regions and can insert aquaculture into the circular economy.

Traditional methods of analyzing biofouling in emitters fail to capture the complexity and heterogeneity of their components. Therefore, the objective of this work was to develop and validate an innovative approach that integrates fractal metrics and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to accurately characterize, quantify, and diagnose biofouling in drippers used with brackish water. For this purpose, tests were conducted on benches that applied brackish water and fresh water through drippers with a flow exponent (x) of 0.46 (NJ), 0.45 (SL), and 0.48 (ST) over 160 h. Biofouling was mapped using advanced diagnostics using SEM and factual metrics, and the results were analyzed using multivariate statistics. The results obtained present important findings for the study, detection, mapping, and proposal of mitigation measures for biofouling in drippers, presenting factual metrics that may be new indicators of clogging. Biofouling is a phenomenon resulting from the interaction between the spatial evolution of the obstructing material, emitter geometry, and irrigation water quality. The combination of SEM and fractal metrics has proven to be an advanced and innovative diagnostic tool for detecting the presence and distribution of biofouling, enabling clogging monitoring and creating more realistic scenarios in hydrodynamic studies to improve or develop emitter designs.

Diluted solar saltworks effluent, applied via fertigation, can contribute to circular economy strategies by recycling nutrients and reducing the environmental impact associated with the disposal of hypersaline effluents. However, its adoption in drip irrigation systems is still limited, as are its effects on emitter performance. This study investigated whether electronic pulses could mitigate emitter clogging by applying dilution of saltworks bittern. Three systems (freshwater + saltworks bittern + electronic pulses; freshwater without electronic pulses; and freshwater + saltworks bittern without electronic pulses) were evaluated in Mossoró, Brazil, using three emitter designs over 0–320 h. Water physicochemical properties and hydraulic performance were monitored, and deposits were characterized by SEM—EDS and FTIR. Electronic pulses did not change bulk water chemistry but were associated with lower total suspended solids. Clogging risk was mainly related to alkaline pH, high electrical conductivity, and elevated Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ concentrations, which kept effluent dilutions within a high-risk range. Untreated effluent reduced irrigation uniformity, whereas treated effluent performed similarly to supply water. Electronic pulses reduced deposit complexity and the severity of critical events but did not eliminate clogging, and responses dependent on the emitter labyrinth’s geometry.