Irrigation Winterization

Make no mistake about it, one of the most important things on your “closing up for the winter” check list has to be the winterization of your irrigation system.  Without taking care of this item on your “to do” list you are risking serious damage on part of your home that you’ve made a significant investment in at some point in the past.

The process consists of blowing out all the water from the irrigation system and equipment. This is necessary because water freezes in the irrigation system and will break pipes, fittings, valves, sprinklers, pumps, and other system components.  If you aren’t exactly sure how to go about getting this late season chore done you should probably contact a professional service to get it done for you.

However, if it’s something that you want to try on your own here are a few things to keep in mind.

The first thing to do is to determine if the system uses auto-drain valves. If auto-drain valves are present, then all you need to do is turn the main water supply off and drain the lines.   The water should flow down hill and out of each zone through the auto drain valve.

If a valve is present open it to allow all water to drain.

If your system does not use auto-drain valves, then an air compressor must be used to blow the water out of the zones. Turn off the main water supply to the sprinkler system, and hook up an air compressor to the system.  You have to pressurize the main tank of the system and then open each one of the valves manually.  Let the compressor run through each valve for two or three minutes to make sure that all the water is pushed out of the line.  Shut that valve off, pressurize the main tank again and then repeat for each head.

Winterizing your system isn’t something that you really want to mess around with however and if you have any question at all as to how to complete the process it’s very important that you contact a professional to do the job for you.