I bought a house this past summer with an irrigation system, and have heard differing opinions on this. Do I need to have the system winterized or just let it be. I don't want the yard to flood after the first freeze? Anybody have experience with this. By the way, I live in Raleigh.

10/20/2008 1:19:45 PM

Winterizing your irrigation system is really pretty simple:

1. Turn off the water to the irrigation system at main valve.
2. Set the automatic irrigation controller to the "rain" setting.
3. Turn on each of the valves to release pressure in the pipes.
4. Drain all of the water out of any irrigation components that might freeze.

10/20/2008 1:22:21 PM

actually, its even easier if you have a quick connect air fitting installed downstream of the main irrigation water valve

hook up your compressed air source and blow the water out of the system

10/20/2008 1:29:40 PM

^ Yep, that's the best method, that way you ensure that there's no water left to freeze anywhere in the system.

10/20/2008 2:04:31 PM

you could pour some antifreeze in the system

Note: this may kill your grass and any small animals that drink from nearby puddles the next time you water

10/20/2008 2:09:20 PM

^ chit chat?

Or are you actually being serious?!

10/20/2008 2:10:51 PM

find the lowest point in the system and rig up a suciton pump

[Edited on October 20, 2008 at 2:59 PM. Reason : other idea was stupid]

10/20/2008 2:58:50 PM

^^ & ^^^

I wouldn't put it beneath someone to do this.

10/20/2008 3:11:34 PM

I think you are probably a month or so early from winterizing. If you just seeded, you should be watering right now to get them germinated and roots growing.

10/20/2008 4:21:40 PM

fuck that, its gonna freeze within the next month for sure.

10/20/2008 4:54:13 PM

They do have non-toxic antifreeze out there... A bit more $$$ though iirc. Just get some non-toxic winterize pool antifreeze.

10/20/2008 4:55:49 PM

Quote :

"you could pour some antifreeze in the system Note: this may kill your grass and any small animals that drink from nearby puddles the next time you water"

Non toxic antifreeze isn't expensive at all. I'm sure it's a little higher in price, but not by much. It is usually listed as RV antifreeze, but it'll say non-toxic right on the front. That's what I use to winterize my parents trailer at Lake Gaston every year.

[Edited on October 20, 2008 at 5:12 PM. Reason : l]

10/20/2008 5:12:08 PM

Quote :

"fuck that, its gonna freeze within the next month for sure."

NOt necessarily IN the ground though.

Although regardless, it's not a bad idea to drain the system.

10/20/2008 5:43:28 PM

well there is no freeze line in nc but why chance it?

10/20/2008 5:45:08 PM

Yeah, the ground should prevent the system from freezing from short term temp drops. That why they install them 12 inches down. You are supposed to winterize when temps start to stay below freezing for more time.

10/21/2008 8:51:08 AM

drain it

10/21/2008 9:11:33 AM

Quote :

"well there is no freeze line in nc but why chance it?"

Exactly

10/21/2008 9:39:04 AM

Im still using mine. Watering the seeds 2x a week and watering my sod daily. Probably will stop watering in the next 2-3 weeks.

10/21/2008 9:40:21 AM

That sounds like a good plan there.

10/21/2008 9:41:04 AM

hahhaa seotaji knows everything:

http://www.irrigationtutorials.com/winter.htm

10/21/2008 10:22:54 AM

$leg went and dug up a serious winterization tutorial.

10/21/2008 10:26:05 AM

I'll do it myself. I called toro, the company who makes my system, and asked them for the procedure, and they said that they did not recommend me doing it myself. They said they can only recommend a licensed contractor do that kind of work. They wouldn't give me any info. Whats it cost for a landscaping contractor to do that?

10/21/2008 8:37:26 PM

if you have the ability to open one head at a time a basic air compressor should be good enough, the one i use for pool plumbing isn't that big

10/21/2008 9:02:16 PM

my grandparents have a irrigations system and they never winterize theirs during the winter, although it does run a little bit during the winter

10/21/2008 9:15:13 PM

I have a backflow preventer similar to this one

http://www.lakecountypipe.com/2-Reduced-Pressure-Principle-Backflow-Preventer-40200T2-series-.aspx

On the right is the inlet valve, on the left is the outlet valve (the yellow handles). The two "fittings" in the middle I think are used to check that the correct backflow pressure is set when starting it back up, but I guess you can also use them to force air through. I watched the guy that winterized mine do it last year. You turn off the inlet valve, leave the outlet open, and he attached his air compressor to the leftmost fitting. Then, you go through each zone one at a time turning it on and letting the air force the water out. He went through each zone twice to make sure all was out. He told me it takes a couple of days of consistent below freezing temps to crack anything related to the irrigation system.

If you have a programmable timer and you see cold days coming, you could set it to turn on once or twice a night for 5 minutes and I'd think that would keep it from freezing up.

10/22/2008 10:59:16 AM

^exactly. this is the proper way to do it. many people opt to remove the valve itself for the winter also. any and all (legal) irrigation systems in nc will have an rpz backflow preventer.

10/23/2008 2:05:10 PM

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that. Remove the valve and use some plastic to tape off the lines coming out of the ground to keep the critters out.

10/23/2008 2:07:02 PM