With Christmas just around the corner it’s time to think about winterizing that sprinkler system again.
As it gets cold with the Christmas holiday fast approaching, sprinkler timer turned off, it’s easy to forget about winterizing your sprinkler system.
Just like having insurance for other things winterizing your sprinkler system is something to consider which may prevent costly repairs next spring.
The first question you may ask do I need to winterize my sprinkler system in St. George? Coming from northern Utah whereas every fall winterizing your sprinkler system is a must, down here in St. George it all depends upon how cold of a winter we get.
On the monthly water schedule I suggest turning your system completely off in December and January and winterize your system to the best of its ability to prevent freeze up issues.
It seems about once every 10 years down here in St. George we will get a cold front bringing temperatures down to the single digits at night time and not above freezing during the day. What’s critical is the daytime temperature not getting back above freezing this enables the frost to penetrate deeper creating more freezing ice.
If this happens for 2 to 3 nights in a row it can cause real issues with lines freezing. Many sprinkler systems here and St. George were never designed and installed with simple draining for winterization in mind. This has caused me to go to great lengths to figure out simple easy ways to protect the most vulnerable components on the sprinkler system.
First turn your control timer to off. Second make sure all of your valve box enclosure lids are securely on the valve box. Third with the new code a few years ago requiring homes to have above ground PVB water backflow devices, cover and or insulate these very well. Many customers make the mistake of turning the ball valve on the device closed this traps a chamber of water in them that freezes and cracks the ball valve.
I have come up with a way of air flushing the backflow device itself out with air using a small air compressor thus ensuring it will not freeze.
Make sure to pay attention to winterizing your sprinkler irrigation system to a avoid headaches this coming spring.
