How To Winterize Your Sprinkler System

Home irrigation systems range from simple to complex, but regardless of their size, winterizing sprinklers is an essential part of getting your home ready for winter. Neglect this task, and come springtime, you’ll have a lot of hoses, pipes and valves to repair. Luckily, it’s not a particularly complex job.

“My co-founder and I started blowing out sprinkler systems in high school,” says landscape expert Skye Durrant. “We would borrow his uncle’s commercial-grade air compressor and go door to door after school and on the weekends.”

While there are many nuances between sprinkler systems, this article provides a basic rundown for how to empty a system of water, plus when to tackle the task.

Why Winterizing Lawn Sprinklers Is Important

Winterizing sprinklers is especially important if you live in an area where it dips below freezing. When that happens, any water in the pipes, valves and other components can freeze, which will damage the system and lead to costly repairs.

How Do You Winterize a Lawn Sprinkler System?

Shut Off the Water Supply

Before winterizing your irrigation system, turn off the main water supply. Shut-off valves are commonly located in the basement or utility room.

1. Turn off the Sprinkler Controller

After you find the controller, which is probably in the garage, it should be as simple as switching it to “off” or a similar setting to avoid accidental activation while the system is dry.

2. Drain the Backflow Preventer

The backflow preventer, also known as the vacuum breaker or double-check assembly, is often located on an outside wall near the foundation. Here’s how to drain the backflow preventer: open the test cocks and turn both shutoff valves to a 45-degree angle. If your unit has a drain plug, remove it as well, to allow trapped water to escape and prevent internal components from freezing and breaking.

“This step is critical,” says Durrant. “If it’s your first time draining a backflow preventer, watch a few short how-to videos on YouTube first. Seeing the process will make it much easier to identify the parts and follow along.”

3. Blow Out the Sprinkler Lines

Connect a high-volume air compressor (something larger than a pancake compressor) to the system’s blow-out port, then manually run each irrigation zone until you see mostly air coming out of the sprinkler heads.

4. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help

If this is your first time winterizing sprinklers, ask a friend or neighbor to walk you through the process, or hire a local pro and watch how they do it. “A poorly done job can cause just as much damage as not doing it at all,” says Durrant.

When Should You Winterize Your Sprinkler System?

It depends on your climate, but as a general rule, do it before the first hard freeze, or once overnight temperatures consistently dip into the 30s.

“It’s good to winterize the system when you don’t need it anymore, when the fall and winter weather takes over and provides enough water for the landscape,” says landscape professional David McCary. “For an established landscape, it is okay to winterize earlier.”

How Do You Turn on Sprinklers After Winterization?

• Close any open drain valves or test cocks.
• Open the sprinkler water supply valve. Do this slowly to avoid pressure spikes.
• Turn the controller back on and run each zone manually to check for leaks, misaligned heads or weak pressure.
• Reset your controller and the watering schedule.

“The most important step is to run each and every zone in the system and do an audit of the system while it is operating,” says McCary. “It’s not uncommon to have nozzles that need replacing and drip tubes that need to be repaired or reconnected.”

FAQ

Do You Need to Winterize all Sprinkler Systems?

Not always. If you live in a region where it never drops below freezing, you don’t need to winterize sprinklers.

“But for most of the US, especially anywhere with frost or snow, winterizing is essential,” says Durrant. “Even shallow freezes can rupture pipes and valves, especially in systems that aren’t buried deep.”

Can you winterize sprinklers without an air compressor?

Maybe, but it’s not a good idea. Even systems that have automatic drain valves are not foolproof. “There’s almost always residual water in fittings and low spots,” says Durrant. “If you want to be thorough and avoid spring repairs, a proper blowout with compressed air is still the safest method.”

About the Experts

• Skye Durrant is co-founder of LawnGuru, a franchise of lawn mowing and landscape experts. He also founded Venture’s Design landscaping in Michigan.
• David McCary is owner of Seattle Sustainable Landscapes. He has been working in the industry since he grew up digging ditches for the family irrigation-focused landscape businesses.

The post How To Winterize Your Sprinkler System appeared first on Family Handyman.

Article source here: How To Winterize Your Sprinkler System