HELP NEEDED FOR WINTERIZING MY SPRINKLER SYSTEM!

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TravisJJ

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Hello!

I know this has been talked about before, but I cannot find anything specific to my set up. First off, I have an Orbit #57256

Can you let me know if there's any additional steps I should be taking? Here's what I've done so far -

First, I turned off my sprinkler system.

Then, inside my home, I turned off the main water valve here:

turn%20off%20water_zpsxpsjoccg.jpg


Then, outside my home, I opened this water valve to let water drain out here:

drain%20outside_zpsxnms6ytj.jpg


After this fully drained, I closed the water valve.

Then, I flipped the below black lever on each of my 6 station valves which manually turned each station on. I left each of these on until water stopped blowing out of each station.

manual_zps0ag1lfu9.jpg


Then, I put the above black levers back to where they are.

Then, I turned these (solenoids) on each of my 6 station valves to let air inside:

solenoid_zpsiixuddh5.jpg


Is there anything else I should be doing inside or outside?

Thank you in advance for your replies!
 
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TravisJJ

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Where's the backflow preventer?

Thank you for the reply, Gary Swart. I am a new first-time homeowner, so everything I labeled above is what I've done and know about.

I have no idea where my backflow preventer is. All the pictures I posted above are what I see in the vicinity of my inground sprinkler system. Is there any reason why I may not have one? I do have a feeling this system is very old. Should I have one? If so, I can't imagine where else it would be since, again, the photos above are everything in the vicinity of the irrigation system.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks again!
 

Gary Swart

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The backflow preventer aka cross connection preventer is required when taking irrigation water from a domestic water supply. These prevent contaminated water from the irrigation system from entering your home water as well as the city supply. It is quite likely you do not have a preventer in your system as it should be located immediately following the shut off valve. There are federal and state requirements for these, but it is left to cities to enforce the laws. Sadly, many do not. I suspect that even if your city does require them, your home many have slipped by if the system was install prior to the regulations or without a permit. I would urge you to Google "backflow preventer" and "cross connection preventer". You'll get the same and similar information for both searches. You have until spring before this becomes a problem, so do the research and then determine which type of preventer will be best for your situation. You should realizes that any preventer needs to be tested each year by a certified inspector and occasionally repaired. FWIW, my city sends a reminder each spring with a list of certified inspectors we can call. When the inspector completes the test he sends the results to the city. If the test is not done, the city will turn off the entire water supply to the home until the inspection is done. Can't say how this is done elsewhere, but it is a serious matter.
 

TravisJJ

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The backflow preventer aka cross connection preventer is required when taking irrigation water from a domestic water supply. These prevent contaminated water from the irrigation system from entering your home water as well as the city supply. It is quite likely you do not have a preventer in your system as it should be located immediately following the shut off valve. There are federal and state requirements for these, but it is left to cities to enforce the laws. Sadly, many do not. I suspect that even if your city does require them, your home many have slipped by if the system was install prior to the regulations or without a permit. I would urge you to Google "backflow preventer" and "cross connection preventer". You'll get the same and similar information for both searches. You have until spring before this becomes a problem, so do the research and then determine which type of preventer will be best for your situation. You should realizes that any preventer needs to be tested each year by a certified inspector and occasionally repaired. FWIW, my city sends a reminder each spring with a list of certified inspectors we can call. When the inspector completes the test he sends the results to the city. If the test is not done, the city will turn off the entire water supply to the home until the inspection is done. Can't say how this is done elsewhere, but it is a serious matter.





Thank you for all the information, Gary Swart. I just called a local irrigation company who's going to come by in a week and a half to blow out my sprinklers. I'm also going to inquire about the backflow preventer. Hopefully it's already there and I just can't locate it at the moment. Any chance it is what I circled here in green? The white wall (with a bit of yellow) to the left of what I circled in green is the wall opposite the outside sprinkler box. Obviously, the red arrow is the shut off valve.
backflow_zpscqlnwahe.jpg
 

Gary Swart

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That may be a check valve that might have been intended to be a backflow preventer. Whether it is actually performing as one, I can't say. Good thing to ask about.
 
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