Drippers

Water source

The design of most other irrigation systems aren't significantly affected by the water source, unless the water is severely contaminated or something. In case of drip irrigation, water source plays a huge role. Impurities in water can clog the drippers or emitters. Even chemical contaminants in water source can cause growth of bacteria or algae which can lead to clogging.

Pumping system
A pumping system or pumping station is necessary to maintain sufficient pressure throughout the system. Sometimes if the water source is at a very high level compared to the drippers or the if the water source is a municipal line, sufficient pressure may be available. But a low pressure will significantly affect the efficiency of the system,

Filtration system
Water quality is essential for the proper functioning of a drip irrigation system, and filtration systems play an important role in here. The filtration system must be capable of removing physical impurities like sand and clay, chemical contaminants, as well as organic matter. A water quality analysis is carried out before choosing the filtration systems and the systems could be media filters, disk filters, etc.

Water meters
Water meters are essential not just to monitor your water consumption or to control the amount of water supplied. They're essential to detect any blocks in the dripper systems. Some water meters record the total water consumption, while some indicate instantaneous water flow, which can be helpful for this.

Dosing systems
While dosing systems are optional, applying fertilisers and pesticides through the drip irrigation system is highly efficient. Referred to as fertigation, such systems deliver fertiliser evenly across the entire field and improve fertilisation efficiency by up to 95%. And supplying pesticides the same way(referred to as chemigation) helps remove any organisms that may be growing within the drip system that can cause a blockage.

Distribution lines
The pipe that carries water from the source is referred to as the mainline. These are then connected to sub main lines which connected to the dripper lines or lateral lines, or simply laterals. The lateral lines are laid along the rows of crops and have drippers or emitters attached to them. While choosing the distribution lines, it is important to ensure that they are rated to withstand the pressure demanded by the system. It is also important to make sure that pipes will not degrade or get damaged in the conditions in which they're used.

Drippers/Emitters
Drippers deliver water to the roots of the crops. While designing a drip irrigation system, the spacing between the dripper lines and the spacing between drippers themselves are important. In a typical system, there could be hundreds or even thousands of drippers, and it is important that these drippers emit water at the same rate, the same amount of water, and that they're resistant to clogging.