1. Starting with the Smart-valve Mk2 connected to a water supply, it will let in water to fill the reservoir up to 40mm and stops.
2. The high water level within the reservoir will activate the capillary action of the wick to draw water from the reservoir over its side and overflow by trickling down the other side of the wick.
3. The flow will be slow dripping out of the free end of the wick a drop at a time.
4. The speed of dripping is governed by the size of the wick used.
5. The water in the reservoir will gradually dries up as the water is drained off by the wick in half an hour to 2 hours depending on the flow rate. Despite the drop in the water level in the reservoir, the Smart-valve remains closed until the reservoir is completely drained. Once that happens, the Smart-valve will automatically re-opens to allow another consignment of water into the reservoir. The filling and draining of the reservoir is automatic and its interval depends on how quickly the water was removed.
   
6.  Less blockages– it is far less likely to block as compared to conventional drippers. This is because its narrowest point in the system is at the Smart-valve discharge – measuring 2 mm in diameter as compared to 0.5 mm for others.
7.  Uniform output– the drip rate is very uniform. Unlike the conventional drippers, the output of the Smart-drippers are not affected by distance the lengths of the tubing, different water pressure (up to 10 psi) and the varying terrain of the site.
8.  Low drip rate– dripping rate can be adjusted to really low volume. It can be as low as 1 litre in 24 hours continuous dripping.
9.  Low pressure– The Smart-drippers can operate on very low working pressure of less than 1 psi up to a maximum of 10 psi. This means that you can have the system fed off a tank by gravity.

Left - Smart-dripper without the cover to expose the Smart-valve position and the wicks (in green) which slows down the flow of water by making it travel against gravity rather than by friction with normal drippers.

The three Babaco trees (Andean pawpaw) being irrigated with the Autopot Smartdripper. The photo above shows the plants were in the 200L tub for two years.

Picture above shows the trees a year later. They have gained in size and have also being very productive with fruits each weighing up to 2 kgs as seen below.