Winterizing your sprinkler system protects from winter damage
Your irrigation system and winter do not go together. Especially if your system hasn’t been properly winterized.
Winterizing is the process of purging all remaining water from your sprinkler heads, valves, pipes and shutting down your controller properly. These steps are the best way to protect your irrigation investment from winter freeze damage.
Winterizing an irrigation system
Air Blow-out
The air blow-out method is the most common for professionals to use. The process uses an air compressor to introduce air into the lines to force all remaining water out of the sprinkler heads, valves and irrigation lines.
Controllers
Controllers are the brains behind the entire irrigation system. They provide all the information of what turns on when and where. Winterizing your controller can insure that your system doesn’t come on during the winter months.
Backflow Preventer
Backflow preventers should be winterized as well. Different manufacturers have different techniques for winterization of their products. Winterizing a backflow preventer should be done by a certified professional.
When should I winterize my irrigation?
In Louisville, Ky and Surrounding Areas
You should never procrastinate when it comes to preparing your irrigation for the winter. If you are using a certified irrigation specialist, you should act early to ensure they do not get booked up. In the Louisville, Ky and Southern Indiana area, you never know when the first hard freeze is going to happen. It can happen in September or be as late as December.
A good rule of thumb would be to call us, your irrigation professional, in September and schedule a time for us to come out. By calling us this early you would get scheduled on our list and beat the first freeze.
How long does the take
The time to complete the winterization process is based on the size of your sprinkler system. An average time for a normal sized system is usually about an hour.
Can I winterize my lawn sprinkler system myself?
We do not recommend doing it yourself. Doing it properly requires industry specific tools and a proper working knowledge of the system. Every Spring we show up on job sites where the owners have destroyed valves and sprinkler heads because they tried to do it and save money. They end up spending more money for repairs than it would have cost them to hire a professional.
Hiring a certified irrigation technician is rather inexpensive. Companies usually charge between $60 and $100 to have your system winterized and can have it done in a matter of hours.