The winter season demands different sprinkler maintenance tasks to keep your irrigation system in top condition and your lawn healthy. It involves a winterization process and blowing out your sprinkler system to prevent damage from freezing pipes or other problems that may occur during cold weather. In this article, we'll talk about what a sprinkler blowout means, why it's important, and how to perform it.
What is Sprinkler Winterization?
When you winterize your sprinkler, you drain all the water from the fittings, sprinkler heads, backflow preventer, and pipes. Sprinkler winterization is necessary because even a tiny amount of water can cause PVC piping to freeze, expand, and crack if it remains inside the irrigation system's components.
What Is a Sprinkler Blowout?
A sprinkler blowout is a process where water is blown out of the sprinkler heads to clear them of water and debris. The purpose of an air blowout is to remove any water that can freeze inside your pipes and sprinklers.
This service ensures no water is left inside your sprinkler heads and pipes. Other methods, such as automatic and manual drain methods, don't always guarantee that all the water has been removed from your sprinklers. Therefore, a blowout might be your best bet.
Why Should You Do Winterization and Blowout?
You should perform winterization and blowout on your sprinkler system for several reasons. These include:
1) To make sure that your sprinkler system is working correctly. A blowout removes any water from the system that can damage your sprinklers.
2) To help prevent frozen pipes. When you perform an air blowout, you ensure that there's no water remaining inside your pipes and sprinkler systems. This prevents your pipes from freezing up and cracking.
3) To be more efficient. If you have many sprinklers, it will take longer to drain each one manually. With an air blowout, it takes less time to drain each sprinkler.
4) To save money. The blowout method ensures all water is drained properly. Therefore, there's less risk of paying for expensive repairs when the warm weather returns.
5) To clear your sprinkler heads of debris. Debris can get stuck in your sprinkler heads and cause clogs. An air blowout uses pressurized air to dislodge these items. As a result, your sprinkler system will function better.
How to Do Sprinkler Winterization?
When winterizing your irrigation system, you should make necessary system adjustments, blow out the lines, and fix any minor issues. Warweg & Co., Inc. does this by carrying out a number of important steps, such as:
- Removing the water from your sprinklers
- Clearing the sprinkler system's water supply
- Turning off the sprinkler controller
- Evaluating your irrigation system's general condition
- Making a report on winterization
- Inspecting the filter and ignition valves
- Activating manual drains and faucets (if necessary)
How to Perform a Sprinkler Blowout?
Now that you know why you should perform a blowout, let's look at how to do it. To perform an air blowout, you'll need an air compressor that provides a volume of at least 30-50 cubic feet per minute (cfm).
Here are the steps:
- Turn off the power supply and timer of your sprinkler system.
- Prepare and attach the compressor to the irrigation system.
- Open each zone of sprinklers, one at a time, starting with the furthest zone.
- Monitor the blowout process in every zone to prevent any damage.
Sprinkler blowout can be overwhelming, so it is best to partner with a trusted contractor like Warweg & Co., Inc. Not only can we help you save the trouble from performing the blowout, but we can also help ensure that it is done right and spot potential issues before they become severe. In the long run, we can help you save money and pain from expensive repairs or the need to replace your irrigation system in its entirety.
Professional Sprinkler Winterization and Blowout at Warweg & Co., Inc.
Warweg & Co., Inc. offers sprinkler winterization and blowout to protect your irrigation system during cold Indianapolis, IN, winters. Our irrigation contractors provide top-notch services that keep your sprinkler system running smoothly throughout the year. Contact us today at (317) 885-8983 to learn more about sprinkler winterization and blowouts, and other sprinkler installation or maintenance services!
