Question of the Week 01/16/2021

Q: Can I turn my irrigation system back on during the winter to water?

A: Can you? Technically yes.

Should you? No.

There are many things that can go wrong when you turn your irrigation system on and off during the winter. Since water expands when frozen, it can easily crack a lot of the non-flexible parts within your irrigation system.

These parts need to be properly drained as part of the winterization process of shutting down an irrigation system. If and when these components (valves, piping in the irrigation box, filters, and backflow preventers) break, it can be costly and labor-intensive to replace.

Best to hand water as needed!