Just like your vehicle, which requires regular maintenance, so does your sprinkler system. With luck, you may have properly winterized your system last fall by draining the sprinklers and pipes of water before freeze-up. If not, you may be facing more troubles – regardless, a lawn care & irrigation professional can help you inspect your sprinkler system to ensure a safe start-up:
Be sure that soil isn’t frozen. Soil should be frost-free to a full 12” below the surface to avoid expensive freeze damage to your pipes by turning the water on too early.
Check for normal wear and tear to valves, nozzles and pipes. Be sure to have a collection of spare irrigation parts just in case, and replace broken or malfunctioning parts if necessary.
Clean clogged nozzles and heads to prevent uneven water distribution.
Check air pressure. One of the biggest problems during initial start-up is the surge of air pressure caused by water suddenly flowing into an empty pipe and air having nowhere to escape – often this can burst fittings and cause sprinklers to blow out of the ground.
Check for leaks. Leaks and breaks in the system not only wastes water but causes a higher utility bill.
Check sprinkler system settings. Check that your timer programs are still accurate based on neighborhood restrictions and local weather conditions.
Test the system. Once you have filled the entire irrigation system, run each zone for a few minutes to flush out remaining air and ensure sprinkler heads are spraying properly.
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