How to Manage Your Irrigation System in 7 Easy Steps

If you are one of the people who love to have a beautiful green lawn and have taken the time to install an irrigation system, then you will want to maintain the life of your system, so that it will work exactly the way you want it to, every time you turn it on. And, while proper maintenance is necessary year round, what you do in the spring is an important part of ensuring that your irrigation system works properly the rest of the season.

Getting Started...Spring into Action

To guarantee that your irrigation system works as you wish it to, you don't have to have a degree in rocket science. In fact, the first 3 (once you have the needed items) steps take less than 10 minutes and the remaining steps usually take less than 30 minutes to complete!

1. Go to your garage or local hardware store, and get an adjustable wrench and some Teflon tape or plumber putty. Then locate your irrigation system's galvanized plug or spigot on top of the irrigation controller... often this will be located in the garage. Should you not have a plug, one can typically be purchased at your local hardware store. Using the tape or putty, be sure to cover the threads of the plug as it will prevent leaking over the summer. Sometimes, the outside plug may not have been removed, in which case you can skip step 2 and proceed to the 3rd step.
2. Take the plug to the outside valve and screw it into the opening, being careful not to make it excessively tight.
3. Once the plug is in place, open the water shut off valves by rotating the valves till they are parallel with the water line.
4. Next, locate the colored ball valve (often near a yellow tag saying, "Danger, Do Not Open"); typically this is in your basement or near/above the water meter. Feel free to remove the tag, then slowly open the valve until you hear the water slowing down, then you can open the valve all the way or until the valve is parallel with the water line. If you hear your pipes rattle and bang, try opening the shut off valve a bit faster.
5. Return to the sprinkler controller and set the correct date, time, watering times, watering days, zones runs times and any other information necessary to see that your lawn looks its best. If, however, you did not turn off the controller over the winter months, this step is unnecessary, unless you want to change something for the new season.
6. Do a quick manual run through to see that each zone's sprinkler head is working properly.
7. Most professionals suggest turning on your sprinkler only after overnight temperatures are not dropping below 40 degrees. In addition, be sure that when you are setting the run times that you keep in mind any watering schedules set by your city ordinances so you can avoid being penalized.

For additional information on the topic of sprinkler systems visit Advanced Irrigation. Article independently authored by Janet M. Slagell. The content herein may or may not reflect the views and opinions of Advanced Irrigation. Click for search engine optimization and search engine marketing or visit WebDrafter.com's Blog.