For most residential applications the non-pressure compensating type will work just fine. These design guidelines will assume you are using non-pressure compensating emitters. You should use pressure compensating emitters if you have an elevation difference of over 5 feet in the area you are irrigating. So if you have a small hill in your backyard and you are going to install a drip system on it you should use pressure compensating emitters. Flow rates .
Emitters come in a variety of different flow rates.
Most soils can't absorb the higher flow rates, so the water tends to puddle around the emitter where it evaporates, or it may even run off into the gutter. With drip irrigation you want the water to be immediately absorbed into the soil as it comes out of the emitter. The best thing to do is to buy a sample or two and test them. Some types spit a small stream of water when they are first turned on. To be real honest, for residential use most emitters I have tested seem to work pretty good.