First-Time Irrigation Owners: What to Know

Your New Home Has a Sprinkler System, Now What?

You bought a new home, and you love it! Home inspections went well before you moved in, and everything is wonderful (we hope). But now you start to wonder about the irrigation system that’s installed in your lawn and landscaping. Here’s what you need to know about taking care of your system, so it can take care of your watering needs.

  1. Locate and Familiarize Yourself with the Controller
  2. Find Your Backflow Device
  3. Know that Water is the Largest Expense with Irrigation
  4. Spring Start-Up Turns the System On
  5. Summer Cycle and Inspect Optimizes the System
  6. Fall Winterization Prepares the System for Winter

Locate and Familiarize Yourself with the Controller

The controller does exactly what it sounds like: control the electrical and plumbing aspects of your sprinkler system, so it works to water your lawn. This equipment is often mounted in your garage, and may look something like this:

Locate and Familiarize Yourself with the Controller

It can be a bit complicated to understand how an irrigation controller works. Your top goal here is to learn how to turn the system off in case you need to. In this example, you can see that turning the knob to the grey OFF setting is fairly straightforward.

Instructions for further options are usually printed on the door. If you have questions, though, feel free to contact TriState Water Works. We service and maintain all brands of sprinkler systems, no matter who installed them.

Find Your Backflow Device

All irrigation systems are required to have a backflow device, which keeps drinking water safe from contaminants that might “flow back” into your plumbing from water in the sprinkler system. It’s probably going to be outside near your home’s foundation and look like this:

First-Time Irrigation Owners: What to Know

You can turn off the water to your irrigation system by turning the two handles on top of the backflow device. You may wish to do this if you identify a persistent leak in the system and are unable to stop it by turning off the system at the controller.

Other things to know about backflow devices:

  • Your local water municipality will require annual inspection of the device. TriState Water Works is authorized to complete these inspections. Often, you’ll get a letter in the mail
  • It’s particularly susceptible to freeze damage, and needs to be removed in the fall
  • Then, it needs to be put back in place in the spring

Know that Water is the Largest Expense with Irrigation

Over the lifetime of your sprinkler system, water will be the largest expense. This highlights how important it is to complete regular maintenance to prevent leaks and optimize the watering schedule. These steps will help save water.

Depending on the age of your system, there may be economical upgrades available to reduce your water bill. Adding a rain sensor is a top priority. Smart watering predicts the weather and only waters when your lawn and landscaping need it.

Spring Start-Up Turns the Sprinkler System On

After the risk of freeze is over, it’s time to ready your system for summer action. This service is called a Spring Start-Up. Because the expense is reasonable, it makes sense to hire a professional. Here’s what happens at this maintenance appointment:

  • We inspect the system for leaks, broken sprinkler heads or electrical failure
  • We adjust the system based on the needs of your landscaping, preventing wasted water
  • We turn on the system and thoroughly test it

Summer Cycle and Inspect Optimizes the Sprinkler System

A few times a year, it’s important to walk your sprinkler system while it’s running to check for problems. There may be broken sprinkler heads, or leaking valves or a zone that isn’t running. All of this wastes water and prevents your landscaping from getting the water it needs.

TriState Water Works can identify and fix these problems during a Summer Cycle and Inspect appointment.

Fall Winterization Prepares the Sprinkler System for Winter

The most important service of the year is Winterization in the fall. If any water is left in the system, it will freeze during the winter and cause massive damage to underground pipes, valves and sprinkler heads. The system could be completely ruined if it’s not properly winterized. As you might suspect, we recommend professional Sprinkler System Winterization.

To make owning a sprinkler system easy, TriState Water Works offers our Plus Program, which includes all the services you need, scheduled automatically and with preferred pricing. Reach out to us to learn more and get signed up.