When Spring is Busting Out, Don't Let Your Irrigation System

Picture this: It's springtime! Finally those long, cold, barren days of winter have melted away. You realize that it's time to fire up your irrigation system. You open the supply valve wide, turn on the timer, then, stand back to watch in horror as a geyser erupts in the middle of your yard. In the "flash flood" inspired panic you rush to shut the water off again. What happened? Well, in your spring induced excitement, you neglected to properly start up your irrigation system after its long winter nap. Fortunately, this scenario is easy to avoid. Just a few simple steps before you turn on your irrigation system will protect it from immediate and unseen damage, as well as, making it more reliable year after year.

Don't Get Hammered!

The greatest threat to your irrigation system, during initial start-up, is water hammer. You may already be aware of water hammer if you have "clanging" plumbing in your house. That "knock" is produced by a surge of air pressure caused by the rush of water suddenly flowing into an empty pipe, giving the air in the pipes no time to escape. This causes the banging you hear. But that is just the outward indication; inside the pipes the surge pressures can reach as much as 15 times the designed operating pressure of the system. These surge pressures can burst fittings and cause sprinklers to literally blow right out of the ground. Worse still, even if your system doesn't blow like Old Faithful from these surge pressures, you may be risking system failure later on when you are away on vacation, or in the peak summer months when you need your irrigation system the most.

Contact a trained Rainbow Lawn Sprinklers professional today to get your spring startup done right!