Getting Your Irrigation System and Water Features Ready for Winter

With the winter season approaching, now is a good time to start preparing your irrigation pipes for colder weather and freezing temperatures.

Due to our ever-changing weather patterns and often drastic fluctuations in the temperature, you need to winterize your water pipes and water features to avoid them from freezing up. A frozen water pipe can often swell and burst, causing a lot of inconveniences, time, and money. For a small investment, you can prevent this from happening.

If you have a drip irrigation system installed in your yard, Santa Rita Landscaping recommends that you insulate the valve, brass anti-siphon, Y filter and pipe above ground, in order to ensure the proper operation of your system.

This can be done by wrapping the insulation on the main water supply pipe and anti-siphon. You can purchase an Insulation Bag to cover the anti-syphon, from local irrigation suppliers. If you have a valve that is located underground, it is usually protected; however, to be safe, you may want to lay a piece of insulation in the box on top of your valves to better help insulate them.

If not completely drained, keep your fountains and water features running during times during low temps including those below 32 degrees. The pipe or flexible poly tubing after the valve is generally protected from freeze as this pipe is installed after the valve and only has water in it while the system is running. When the water is running, it is less likely to freeze.