It is important that your irrigation system is maintained. A well maintained system will allow your lawn and gardens to thrive while using as little water as is necessary. Wes-Tech recommends you engage a contractor to service your irrigation system year round. In particular an irrigation contractor will shut down your system in the winter and start it back up in the spring checking for any damage. Having a business relationship with a contractor is very handy when you need work done during the busier times of the year.
If you are doing your own irrigation system maintenance the following instructions should be helpful. In Canada we experience winter everywhere, even on the West Coast. it only take a couple of hours below freezing to potentially damage your irrigation system. Once the fall leaves start to drop, we want to think about how we have to prepare our irrigation systems before the first freeze. Here are a few ways we can prepare our irrigation systems for that.
Ways to winterize your irrigation system.
Owning an irrigation system means we need to be responsible for it as the weather goes from summer to fall. We want to prevent water being left in our system during freezing temperatures. If water is left in our irrigation system it can cause a headache when comes spring making you have to deal with cracked pipes, fittings, valves, or spray heads. The three most common ways to drain your system are: an automatic drain, manual drain or a blow out.
Automatically Draining an Irrigation System.
If your system has flush valves installed at all the low points of the line. Every time the system shuts off making the pressure decrease, the flush valves will automatically open which will drain any water remaining in the lines. Make sure you inspect your flush valves and insure they are in the correct working order.
Manually Draining an Irrigation System
To manually drain your system, you will need to open every valve, and raise all the fittings and pipes, including any fittings near the manifold or hose bib timer. This makes it easier for the water to flow out of the drain ports. This method is not the ideal method for underground irrigation systems being that water can easily be still trapped in the system.
Blowing Out an Irrigation System
To blow out your irrigation system you need an air compressor that can reach 40-50PSI to blow the water out of the lines. If you do not own an air compressor or have a larger system, most likely you will need to hire a company that does irrigation blow outs. Most irrigation companies do blow outs and will do a general inspection of your irrigation system after the summer season of use. Blowing out your system is one of the most foolproof ways to insure all the water has been drained from your irrigation system, preventing the costly fixes when it comes time to turn your system back on in the spring.
How to Blow Out an Irrigation System
1. Turn off the water supply. You will need to close the valve on the mainline going to your irrigation system. This prevents any new water entering your system during the draining process. Usually, your shut off valve will be located at your backflow preventer.
2. Drain the water from the main line. Try to drain any water from the mainline, open any valves or hose bibs that are off the main line. Most likely there will be a hose bib at your backflow preventer that you use to connect your winterization adapter. You can drain some water from there before attaching the adapter.
3. Close the valves on your backflow preventer. Closing the valves on your backflow preventer will prevent the compressed air going back into the backflow potentially damaging the backflow.
4. Connect the air compressor. Depending on the size of your compressor you may need to regulate the pressure to prevent any damage to your irrigation system. Your compressor must provide at least 40PSI to blow out the water from the lines. If your system has PVC pipes you will not want to exceed 80PSI as damage can occur. If your system has poly pipes do not exceed 50PSI. Your connection point may differ depending on your system set up. You may have a blow out adapter just after your backflow preventer, or there should be a blow out port on your backflow preventer. Occasionally there is a quick coupler installed in your system that you can connect an air hose to directly.
5. Open each valve individually. You will need to open each valve individually to blow out each zone. Start with the furthest zone. As you open the valve you will see the sprinkler heads pop up or see misting coming from your emitters. Once water has stopped coming out on the zone or the misting has stopped, close the zone and open the next zone down the line. Just to note it is important to stop the compressed air once the water has stopped flowing out. This prevents the plastic components from overheating due to lack of water, preventing damage. If a small amount of water is left in the system, it is unlikely that it will cause any damage.
6. Release compressed air from the line. Once you have completed your blow out make sure any compressed air left in your irrigation system has been cleared. You can release the compressed air by opening a main drain valve and opening the backflow valves. After you have released the compressed air ensure the isolation ball valve on your backflow preventor is half open half closed in a 45 degree angle after blowing out your system.
7. Don’t forget to turn off your irrigation controller. Once your system has been prepared for winter you don’t want your system to try to run in the winter. If you have a hose bib timer, bring your timer inside along with your filter and pressure reducers.
**These are not exact instructions on how to blow out your irrigation system simply use this as a guideline**
**If these instructions are confusing, Consider hiring a contractor.**