Irrigation, Spring start up questions

[05cavalier]

Hello guys/gals. This is the first spring that I'm a homeowner and I'm looking to start up my irrigation system. I had a local company come blow it out and winterize it but they don't have openings to come turn it back on for another 2 weeks so I'd like to learn to do it myself. I've looked online but I haven't really found a set of instructions or even a setup similar to mine. I'm not extremely familiar with terminology so I apologize in advance for that. Also thank you in advance to anyone who offers help.

My basic setup is I have 2 in-ground access boxes in the backyard, and 1 in the front. The 2 in the backyard have 3 solenoid's each though they appear to be different between the 2 boxes - not sure why. The front yard has a single pipe with 1 red handled valve, another smaller metal handle, and then another device which I'm not sure what is or what it does. There's only one pipe in the front yard box. Pictures are below:

Backyard box 1:


Backyard box 2:


Front yard box:


Not pictured: there's a timer control box on the wall in the garage.

So the question is: what is the process for getting everything turned on correctly? I guess I was expecting a lot more piping and valves, back flow, etc. I wasn't prepared for just 1 red handle and it seems too simple to just slowly turn it until it's parallel with the pipe.

 

[SteveW]

First question I will ask is: Do you really want to turn your winterized system on now? I don't know Montana weather, but here in Omaha I won't be starting mine up until about Mother's Day, which is historically when we can be pretty sure we won't get any more freezing nights.

You may be better off scheduling the pros to come out in 2 weeks and getting them to show you where all the valves and drains are located.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[05cavalier]

I'm not in Montana. That bit of information is not relevant, yet required for signup, so that was the first state I thought of while watching tv. The weather here warmed up nicely and most everyone else around me is a couple weeks into fertilizing and watering.

 

[SteveW]

Actually location is very relevant. Considerable regional differences in how sprinkler systems are installed depending on climate, soil, etc.

 

[05cavalier]

So how to turn valves on or off is different depending on where you live? I have not seen anything to suggest that this is the case - please provide some links so I can read up on that and understand it. I can understand more/less due to size of the yard, number of sprinkler heads, and number of zones, but saying what valves are used for and how to turn them on/off depends on where you live seems like a stretch.

For example, I don't think how that red handle works depends on if I live in Seattle or Florida or anywhere else.

 

[SteveW]

In some parts of the country, the water meter and main shutoff valve for the house are in the yard. I would imagine that the sprinkler system shutoff might also be in the yard in such an installation. Not so in the midwest.

In some parts of the US, PVC is used for connecting sprinkler heads. Not typically done in the midwest, where we use flexible poly pipe.

I can walk you through how I turn my system on, but not sure if it will be at all helpful for you, wherever you may be.

 

[05cavalier]

I can understand the different types of piping and location of the pipes for sure, which is why I took pictures of my setup. That definitely makes sense why you said it would depend on location and I didn't understand though.

I talked to the guys and it really was as simple as turning the main valve, or the red handle in my pictures, and then running through the zones. If anyone else stumbles onto this forum and has a similar setup to mine and can't find your backflow preventer (as I couldn't locate mine anywhere), it's likely your property doesn't have one. Being on dedicated irrigation lines and not branched from the main city water, by me they don't require back flow preventers. They always recommend them of course as well as numerous safety shutoff valves, but nothing required. Check with your city before wasting 2 days for searching for something that doesn't exist lol.

 

[SteveW]

Hard to imagine any jurisdiction not requiring back flow valves. I personally wouldn't turn on a sprinkler system if it didn't have a backflow preventer. Too easy to make a lot of people sick.

 

[Gary Swart]

Federal law and state laws require BF. Perhaps better than BF, we should refer to them as cross contamination protection. True, these laws are often ignored locally, but if you have any concerns about preventing exposure to some really nasty, even fatal, illness to everyone connected to your water source, you will not only get a BF, you will have is certified annually by a licensed inspector who will not only test the unit to ascertain it is functioning properly, will replace worn seals if needed. This is not a DIY job, but is not expensive.