Spring is Here. Are Your Sprinklers Ready?

It’s spring and is time to fire up your irrigation system, also known as the sprinkler system. Aah, the irrigation clock, I can never get it to do what I want it to do. Or that leaky apparatus (backflow preventer) that sticks out of the side of your house like an oozing sore. And, don’t forget the sprinklers that did not perform correctly last season, leaving a muddy mess or dry spots. These are just a few of the common problems that need to be addressed at the start of the summer season.

Irrigation start up is by far the most important and easiest time to review your irrigation system. It’s the time to adjust sprinkler heads, flush irrigation lateral lines and check the drip system.

These tasks may seem easy in concept but, if there is a problem, then you need someone who has the knowledge to troubleshoot and repair.

Here are some common problems that we all can experience when trouble shooting our irrigation system.

The Irrigation or sprinkler clock has a mind of its own.

Most often the time of day or day has not been set properly or there are programs that have been activated by accident.

The back flow preventer has a drip coming out the bottom.

A backflow preventer prevents outside water from backing up into drinking water- causing contamination. Your back flow is always working and periodically needs to be rebuilt. This should be repaired by a professional. You may also wish to hide the ugly piece of metal jutting out from the side of your home. This is easily done with a shrub or ornamental grasses.

Not all of my sprinkler heads on the same zone have the same amount of pressure.

This could be due to a clogged filter or more importantly - a clogged nozzle.

Another possible explanation is that you have an underground leak. The only solution to this is to work backwards from the sprinkler head and check the ground. If you’re not sure what the direction of flow is, then call in a professional to save yourself a lot of time.

I have a geyser in the middle of my garden where a sprinkler head use to be.

The irrigation system needs to be flushed and the sprinkler head replaced, sometimes not an easy task.

Maybe you noticed last season that you had dry spots in some locations and wet spots in others.

This really sounds like you need an irrigation audit and review. An audit measures the amount of water that each sprinkler head puts out and also allows us to look at the spacing.

Drip systems are the hardest to inspect and review. Sometimes there are hundreds of trees and shrubs on them, and if they are not checked properly and completely then you stand to lose very important and expensive plant material.

One of the most common problems with a drip system are the emitter(s) getting clogged, allowing little or no water through. The drip emitter is a tiny valve that controls water flow at the root area or base of plant. The drip system can be at the surface or underground (subsurface). These all need to be checked. The obvious drip system problem is a broken or missing emitter, which usually shoots water straight up in the air. Another common problem is too much or not enough water to the plants. This is controlled by the size of the emitter, the amount of run time on that station and or the type and size of plant you are watering. These factors together make a drip system quite complex, I recommend hiring a professional to review and inspect your drip system.

These are just a few important problems, solutions and some explanations you might encounter while starting up your irrigation system in the spring.