Winterizing Sprinklers

Interviewer: Irrigation is very important especially when winter sets in. It is just going about doing your winter house and because it is like a furnace tuned up for your home. Dave: That is right. Interviewer: Tuning up and getting ready. Dave: Yes, it will only take a couple as it is in a cold the weather before something gets broken if your system is not winterized properly. Interviewer: Now, what about the irrigation system. I know you called it the ‘blow out’. How does that go? How do you it? Dave: Well basically, what we do is get a large compressor that we towed behind the truck. We will take a look at it in a minute. It is hooked up to the main water supply out of the system and the main water supply of the system originally comes from your house water supply usually out in the yard—we of course shut that off at this point. We connect up to your preexisting winterizing or blowout connection. Interviewer: And that is all put in at the time the irrigation is put in. Dave: That is right. So, that should have already been put in. And if it has not, if somebody has missed that and it can certainly be done at that time. Interviewer: So, you can do that if that was not there. Dave: Absolutely. Interviewer: Aha! Dave: So, we hooked up to that and then we use our compressor to force air through the entire system. Interviewer: What about my little compressor I have in my shop? Could I use that? Dave: Well, that is a good question. We have a lot of people and ask that the same question and volume of air is particularly important both pressure and the volume of air and while your little compressor may deliver the pressure you acquired, the volume it will not so, we are using over 150 CFM usually cubic feet per minute of air flying to the pipe. Interviewer: Well Dave, what have we got here? Dave: Well, this is a valve box. This is where the electric valves control the water supply to the whole irrigation system or at least these three zones that connected by water tape connectors to the multi-strand wire, the yellow wire that runs back to the controller when they rush. This is actually a system that we have taken over from somebody else and the valves are a little bit lower than they are normally or little bit shallower than they normally are. But nonetheless, it all works just fine. So, we will be able to actuate these valves with the manual bleed-screws here while we are doing the winterizing. Interviewer: So now, what is the next step? Dave: Next step is to turn on the compressor. Interviewer: Hey, let us go and do that. That is the noise maker. Well Dave, that sure did not take very long but I can see by the point you made earlier, you need the right equipment. Dave: Yes absolutely, you need the right equipment. And it is pretty sure you should be after that.