Winterizing irrigation: How Do I Winterize My Irrigation System?
Winterizing Your Irrigation System
WINTERIZING YOUR SPRINKLER SYSTEM
Click here to download a PDF version of the Winterization Guide.
Introduction:
In a climate where the frost line extends beyond the depth of installed pipe, it is advisable to “winterize” the sprinkler system to avoid damage. Special attention should be given to removing water from the pipes, valves and sprinkler heads before the first frost occurs. This may be accomplished using three techniques; the manual drain valve method, the automatic drain valve system or the air blow-out practice.
This guide deals with the air-blow out practice as it is the only way to ensure water has been removed from the system. Local irrigation contractors usually offer this service for a reasonable fee that may also include start-up in the spring. Depending on how extensive your system is and what type of equipment you have installed, you may want to choose a professional who is fully equipped to provide this service. Find a contractor in your area.
Factors you must consider before you begin:
- WEAR PROPER EYE PROTECTION! Extreme care must be taken when blowing out the system to avoid excessive pressure which can damage valves or sprinkler pipe or cause physical injury due to flying debris.
- Do not stand over any irrigation components (pipes, sprinklers, and valves) during air blow out.
- Air pressure must not exceed 50 pounds per square inch (psi). Compressor must be capable of delivering 20 to 25 Cubic Feet Per Minute of air volume.
- Do not run equipment for longer than 1 minute on air.
Local irrigation contractors usually offer this service for a reasonable fee that may also include start-up in the spring. Depending on how extensive your system is and what type of equipment you have installed, you may want to choose a professional who is fully equipped to provide this service.
Description of procedure: Compressed air is used to force water through all of the irrigation system components including the mainline pipe, sprinkler control valves, lateral pipes, and out through the sprinkler heads. To obtain proper air volume, you will need to rent or buy a compressor capable of providing 20 to 25 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air volume.
Air pressure must not exceed 50 pounds per square inch (psi) during the blow out procedure.
A pressure-regulating valve must be used to avoid over pressurization of the system. Air volume should be high and air pressure low. This combination of high volume and low pressure will minimize the damage that can occur during the winterization process. It is very important to select the right air compressor for the job. Some small shop compressors (2 hp) may not be adequate to complete the winterization procedure properly. If the appropriate air compressor is not available, please call an irrigation contractor.
Do not try to use an air compressor with high pressure (120 psi) and low volume to evacuate water from the system. It is not an acceptable practice to allow the compressor to fill the holding tank of the compressor and the closed mainline with high pressure air, hoping the surge of excess pressure will compensate for the lack of compressor size and blow the line clean upon opening the sprinkler control valve.
This is a dangerous practice that places very severe stresses on all of the components of the system.
Do not run the compressor without at least one sprinkler control valve open.
This lessens the chance that the system could over pressurize. It is a common misbelief that if the system can withstand 120 psi of water pressure, similar air pressure will not damage the system. This is not true! The viscosity of air is much lower than water, generating much higher stresses that can cause severe damage to the system.
Procedure:
Wear Proper Eye Protection! Do not stand over any irrigation components (pipe, valves, or sprinklers) during air blow out.
Do not run the air compressor without a sprinkler zone control valve being open first, from start up to compressor shut down. Air pressure must not exceed 50 pounds per square inch (psi).
Blow out procedure activating sprinkler control valves from the timer:
1. Close mainline sprinkler shutoff valve.
2. Relieve the water pressure on the mainline by activating a circuit, or zone, from your timer.
Activate the circuit that is furthest from the air connection before introducing air into the piping.
3. Attach the compressor hose to the blow out adapter.
4. Set the pressure-regulating valve on the compressor to 50 psi.
5. Turn on the compressor. Gradually increase the flow of air until the sprinkler heads pop up. The amount of flow or volume required will be dependent upon the length of the pipe run and the number of heads.
6. Sustained heat from the compressed air may damage pipe and other components.
Do not blow any circuit more than 1 minute at a time. Switch to another station, or zone, by advancing the timer to the next circuit.
Do not turn the timer off at any time during this operation until the compressor is first shut off.
7. In order to ensure adequate drainage of lines, repeat the cycle two or more times, activating each zone from the timer, until nothing more than a fine mist appears from the heads. Many sprinklers that use plastic gears in their drive mechanisms also use water for lubrication and cooling. If a circuit is allowed to run with nothing but air for extended periods there is a significant risk of damaging the drive mechanism of the sprinkler.
8. After blowing out all the zones, leave one zone on while shutting down the compressor. Turn the compressor off at this time.
9. Unhook the compressor from the adapter to the sprinkler system mainline.
10. Turn the timer to “Off”.
Click here to download a PDF version of the Winterization Guide.
Winterizing your Irrigation System – DIG
by Stuart Spaulding,
CLIA Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor Training & Communications Manager at DIG Corp.
Step 1: When freezing weather is anticipated, simply turn off your main water supply to the irrigation system and make sure that the backflow device, valves, filter, pressure regulator, pipe, sprinklers, drip hose, and drippers are free of water.
Step 2: After the main water supply is shut down, run the timer/ controller through its normal watering cycle. This will allow each of the valves to open and relieve water pressure on the main line and valves. Allow the lines to drain slightly. After the timer/controller runs through its cycles, turn the controller off, or to Rain Off position.
Step 3: Through the height of winter leave the system off and drained. Water your plants with hose only.
In most cases, there is enough moisture in the ground from rain to sustain the plants during the extreme winter months.
The parts of the irrigation system that need to be drained:
Draining the main line: Some irrigation systems have manual drain valves or automatic spring-loaded drain valves at the end system that may not be installed properly and sometime will not guarantee that the main line will be thoroughly drained. Other probabilities are that the ground may not be flat or the drain valve may not be at the lowest point of the system. If the main line is installed below the ground, the only way to make sure that the system is drain is to use air pressure to flush the system.
Valve assemblies such as battery operated controllers or AC valves with filter and pressure regulator: If the entire assembly can be easily removed from the pipe, it may be simple to store the assembly unit from the controller to the pressure regulator inside for the winter.
If removing the filter assembly or valve assembly is not practical, the valve bonnet should be loosened or removed to make sure that the water from the top of the diaphragm and the filter cap should be drain
Drip tubing and micro tubing
First disconnect the drip tubing with the swivel adaptor from the filter assembly and make sure to wrap the swivel adapter or the connection to the filter assembly with a plastic bag to prevent dirt and contaminates from entering the drip tubing. If the drip tubing is installed above the ground, open all the ends of the drip tubing and allow the water to drain. Then lift the drip hose from the connection of the filter assembly, a few feet at a time and section-by-section, making sure that any water left in the drip tubing or micro tubing will drain out. After you finish draining the drip tubing and the micro tubing, make sure to close the ends of the drip tubing using the hose ends.
Drip Irrigation Maintenance
* Inspect drippers, micro sprinklers and micro tubing periodically to insure that no drippers are clogged, or that any of the micro tubing is out of place.
* Filter screens should be flushed and cleaned at least once a month depending on water quality. Checking the filter one week after installation should give you an idea on how often to schedule cleaning.
* Drip tubing should also be flushed periodically; again, water quality will determine the frequency of flushing.
* During freezing weather, we recommend draining your poly tubing or rolling it up and storing it.
* During freezing weather, we recommend removing the battery-operated controller if installed for the season and storing it indoors.
* Remove end caps or open hose ends to flush the line once a year.
* As your landscape matures, you may need to add, change or remove drippers or micro sprinklers.
Watering plants in winter. Subwinter Watering Plants
Sometimes in the spring, when the plants are supposed to start the vegetative process, it turns out that some of them did not survive the winter. Then it seems to us that the plants have frozen.
We are looking for errors in insufficient protection from frost and wind for the winter period. But this may not always be the reason. So, sometimes it happens that the plants simply withered from lack of water. Let’s consider why this happens, and find out how waters plants in winter .
Which plants need watering in winter?
Of the conifers, the most vulnerable are cypress, juniper, fir, pine . And from evergreen species – boxwood, mahonia and rhododendron . Particularly affected are young plants that have not yet had time to take root well, as well as varieties that, by their nature, take root shallowly.
We thought: well, but why is this happening? I’ll try to explain.
Evergreens lose moisture all the time through leaves and needles (especially during the thaw period, when, as a result of warming, pores open in the leaves through which moisture evaporates).
At the same time, the soil is frozen, the plant cannot receive moisture through the roots. To this is added a dry cold wind and especially arid cold east and north winds. So we have the finished winter drought .
How to water plants in winter?
If the autumn is dry and rainless, the last watering before the frost comes is especially important. If your garden grows both evergreen and shedding plants for the winter, then remember that the latter should not be watered abundantly in early autumn, before they shed their leaves. Why? Because it prolongs their growing season and can cause them to be damaged by the first frost.
Winter watering , for evergreens, should be carried out as late as possible, when the plants, shedding their leaves for the winter, have already lost most of their leaves. Most often this falls on the end of October, the beginning of November. Be sure to catch up before the first frost.
Pour plants abundantly, preferably for a long time with a small stream of water, so that it seeps well deep into the earth (to non-freezing layers).
Extra plants help mulching soil made after watering. Accordingly, a thick layer of mulch will prevent evaporation of moisture from the soil and limit the process of soil freezing. It is also worth using shelter from the side of cold easterly winds, which dry out plant shoots very much.
If your evergreens weren’t watered just before winter, you will need to help them during this time of the year and water the plants in winter . If you notice that during the period of prolonged frosts the leaves are bent and the bushes take on an unhealthy appearance, which is a sign of insufficient moisture in the soil, during the next warming, when the ground thaws slightly, water the plants abundantly. Always water in winter during the thaw so that the water is absorbed before the ground freezes again.
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Today we’ll talk about what is winter water-charging irrigation? And how to do it, so as not to harm the garden?
Podzimny watering watering – this is the charge of plants with moisture before winter. It is especially important for conifers, which are very often prone to burning in the hot spring sun. And most importantly, moist soil keeps heat longer, while protecting the roots from freezing.
And now we answer the most frequently asked questions, but is it necessary? When? How? How?
Is it necessary?
It all depends on how the summer was. If the summer was hot and dry, and also the autumn is not rainy, then you definitely need it! If in doubt, there is a way to determine soil moisture. Between the trees or next to the tree, you need to dig a hole 40-50 cm deep, take a handful of earth from the bottom of the hole and squeeze it in your palms.
If the earth is wet and a lump forms in the hand, put it on a napkin or newspaper, there is a wet trace – watering is not needed, there is no trace – watering is needed, but not very plentiful (reduce by 1/3). And if the earth from the bottom of the pit is crumbly and dry, then a napkin is not needed here – watering is simply extremely necessary.
When?
When will the mass fall of the leaves. And the air temperature stays around +2…+3. At this time, the tree significantly reduces water consumption. If you start to abundantly shed the garden earlier, you can provoke the growth of young shoots, which is not necessary at all by winter.
How much?
Under mature trees (more than 10 years old), it is necessary to wet the soil by 1-1.5 meters. Please note that it takes 10 liters of water to wet 1 sq.m per 10 cm!!! But you need to make adjustments for YOUR soil! If the soil is dense, heavy, and even more so with a high level of groundwater, having waterlogged, we have a risk of losing plants altogether.
Water will drive out the air, the roots will simply begin to die. You also need to understand which plant you are watering. If this is a young tree that you planted this or last year from a pot 30 cm high, then, of course, there is no need to pour 100 liters of water under it, it is enough to wet the soil by 50-60 cm. We also remember that the root system is located along the projection of the crown, and it is necessary to moisten not only the area near the trunk. It is also advisable not to weld the hose on the root neck at all, as it is fraught with its decay.
How? There are several options.
- The first method – drip irrigation (perhaps one of the ideal options). Excessive air humidity is not created, which contributes to the development of fungal diseases, and moisture, without eroding the soil, evenly, gradually and without your vigilant control penetrates deep into the soil.
- Second method – sprinkling. Option for sloping gardens.
