Here are a few quick comments as far as prepping an irrigation system for the spring.
1. If your backflow preventer (irrigation shut off valve) has been off then you need to open a valve, either by turning on a station on the controller or manually opening a valve via the bleed or solenoid before opening the preventer. This will allow the air trapped in the lines to be released before you start water flowing down the system.
2. When opening the backflow preventer, this MUST be turned on very slowly. The minimum time to take is five minutes before it is fully open. This will prevent the water from hammering through the pipes (known as “dry line shock”) and causing damage.
3. The only other thing you should really do is go through all the stations and check for breaks and adjust heads and clean debris out of the nozzles.
There you have it – 3 easy and quick things to do to get your irrigation system ready.
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