Irrigation Winterization & Activation

Every year, before winter sets in, homeowners across the region start draining all the water out of their landscape irrigation systems. This step is required in areas where the snow &frost levels extend far below the depth of installed piping in the outdoor spaces.

However, just draining all the water doesn’t help. There could also be some water that lingers in the system, which can freeze and expand. Ultimately, this freeze can cause PVC piping to crack. This is why it becomes necessary to get irrigation winterization done before the snow and ice plays havoc with the system.

We At A1 Plumbing have a large number of returning clients in Reno, Sparks and Carson City, NV. These property owners call us in year after year to handle their irrigation system winterization requirements. But that isn’t all. They also hire us for irrigation system activation, once the last of the ice and snow vanish and its springtime.

Irrigation Winterization

Even after you have drained water out of the irrigation system, the water that is left inside can freeze, expand, and eventually crack the PVC pipes, from fitting to fitting. It’s also why many property owners opt for polyethylene pipes (black, flexible pipes). While these pipes are more flexible and can expand a bit under pressure, the pipe walls can rupture if the water left inside them freezes.

Freezing water accumulated in the backflow assembly can damage all the internal components and potentially crack the brass body. The way to minimize the risk of this happening to your landscape irrigation systems is to winterize them at the right time.

Irrigation Activation

In addition to excellent irrigation winterization services, we also offer reliable and timely irrigation system activation services. It gets the system going again for the rest of the year. This is the process we follow:

• Before turning on the water to the irrigation system, our technicians will close all the manual drain valves.
• They will then open the main water valve of the system and allow the water to fill the pipes gradually. Opening the valves very quickly will subject the main lines of the irrigation system to a surge of pressure, water hammer, and an uncontrolled flow.
• The team will then inspect the zone valves to ensure they are working correctly. They do this manually, by activating the primary controller mechanism.
• They will also check whether the operating pressure is right and will adjust the sprinkler heads and ensure they are rotating correctly.
• If there are any poorly performing sprinklers, they will also check & clean the filters as required.
• The next step would be to clean the rain sensor, if applicable.
• Cleaning the in-line filters for all the drip irrigation zones and cleanup are the last steps of the irrigation activation process.

We offer high-quality services at very reasonable irrigation winterization and activation cost. If you want any underground piping and leak repairs done, we at A1 Plumbing can help. Book our services by calling 1-775-746-5900 or through this Contact Us form, and we will revert shortly.