Our climate in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is variable, it’s true, but one thing you can count on is that sometime after Thanksgiving in October, the weather will get colder and our growing season will come to an end for the winter. If you have a residential sprinkler sprinkler that means shutting down your irrigation system and winterizing it properly to ensure you’ll be able to count on it for years to come.
Basically, winterizing involves expelling all the water from the irrigation system. You may be able to drain most of the water from your sprinkler system yourself depending on the set up, but even a small amount of water left in the pipes can expand and freeze, cracking PVC (rigid) piping and rupturing even the more flexible polyethylene piping. Water may also be present in the backflow, valves or the sprinkler heads, damaging those components as well.
What is “Blowout”?
In order to ensure you’re getting all the water out of the piping, you’ll need what is called a “blowout”. Blowout involves using compressed air to force the water out of the system. While other methods are possible, they will work only if your pipes are entirely level, with no ups and downs to trap the water. The ground shifts in the winter with every frost and thawing and there’s no way to be sure if there’s any water lingering in low lying spots.
• Very important: If your system has electric valves, then blowout is a must.
Blowout is tricky in that you need just the right amount of air pressure – too little and it will blow over the water, too much and you can blow out your sprinkler nozzles. As the name implies, the results can also be somewhat volatile – and that’s why you need professional help.
Leave it to the Experts at FutureGreen Irrigation
Winterizing is an important part of the general maintenance of your residential sprinkler system and helps to ensure that you’ll have an easy start up next spring as well as protecting the valuable system components you rely on from potential damage.
Contact us for your winterizing appointment today. Contact us for any of your irrigation design or maintenance service needs by visiting us online at http://www.futuregreenirrigation.ca. Call (416) 553-7488 in Toronto, 905-960-0040 in York Region or 705-999-0907 in Barrie or toll free 1-866-936-5296 for a free consultation with no obligation at any time. You’ll be glad you did!
ABOUT FUTURE GREEN IRRIGATION
It’s our mission to provide our customers with the best in irrigation and lawn sprinkler system installation and service, exceeding all expectations – whether it’s a new installation or maintaining an existing system. With Future Green Irrigation, no project is too large or too small and you deal directly with the principals of our business, which provides you with a commitment to quality through a personalized, hands-on approach and peace-of-mind through accountability and trust. We cover the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Durham, Barrie, Newmarket, Bradford, Orangeville and Caledon, Ontario.