Time to Drain the Irrigation System

[RPB]

Well....... Not exactly the system, most of us in texas dont have a problem with ground freezing so all the pipes in the ground will be ok.

But... do drain your Backflow Device

1. If you have a dedicated cut off valve in the ground (between the meter and your backflow) turn that off. Make sure it is not your house water.
some systems will have a dedicated cut off, some of you may have a dedicated meter, others may not have anything

2. If you dont have this then you will have to turn the handle off on your backflow, if it is a PVB turn off the bottom handle, let the side handle on.
If its a double check in the ground dont worry, probably wont freeze and the handles are rusted off and stuck anyhow. If it is an RPZ, (I bet nobody has one) but if you do there should be an arrow on it showing flow direction, turn off the cut off valve in front of the RPZ.

3. Now that the water is off to the system, go to the controller and turn on a station and let the pressure off the line.

4. Now go back to the backflow device and find the little test cocks on the side or top of the device. With a Flat head screwdriver open the little test cocks and leave them open for any water to drain out, LEAVE them open, doesnt hurt anything.

Disclaimer....... Dont hold anything against me if something crazy happens, I am just giving a heads up so you dont have to pay a repair charge like most people had to do last year when it froze so badly. Ryan

[millertime520]

dont turn off ball valves on the device water gets trapped in there and will freeze. if anybodys freezes go to www.sprinklersupplies4less.com and we can get you a new one

[Texastaxi]

Great reminder!

I didn't do this, last year ... the sprinkler guy loved handing me the $280 bill for his 10 minutes of work, to change out the valve, when it busted!

Just to be safe, I drained mine, during the first cold spell ... so I wouldn't forget!

[RPB]

Yea Millertime is correct about turning off the ball valves, if you do turn them off the water in the little ball could freeze and blow out the side of the valve.

If you dont have a dedicated shutoff in the ground then you have to turn it off if you want to kill the water to they system and to drain the device, you are potentially saving the device but might sacrifice the ball valve.

either way, if one or the other freezes and you have to take it apart to fix it you still have to have it retested once it is fixed, (well you are supposed to anyways)

If you dont want to turn off anything then insulate and wrap it really good to protect it from the cold.

[ramrod]

I am a certified backflow tester. Really only a certified personel are supposed to work on these, but there are to many out there to keep up with. Also if you keep the test ports on the top open, just make sure nothing falls into them. You would be amazed how tempermental these devises are. In my opinion, the best thing to do is just wrap some sheets or towls around it.

[KaPlunk]

thanks for the heads up....

[Bowtech Lefty]

Great reminder!

I didn't do this, last year ... the sprinkler guy loved handing me the $280 bill for his 10 minutes of work, to change out the valve, when it busted!

Just to be safe, I drained mine, during the first cold spell ... so I wouldn't forget!

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