Sometimes it’s clear something’s not right out there with your sprinkler system.
Maybe you notice leaking, puddling, or bubbling. Or weird patches of lawn that are mysteriously way greener than the rest of your lawn. Or worse — dead grass.
How to fix a sprinkler system? It depends on the problem. It could be as simple as cleaning out a valve stuck open by dirt or gravel. Tackle that yourself and feel like you really accomplished something. Heck, take the rest of the day off! Or you might have a full-blown line leak. Cue the irrigation pros.
Some sprinkler system problems pop up more often than others.
Let’s take a look.
First, Keep an Eye on Things
Maybe you’re relaxing after work by taking a stroll around the garden. Or maybe you’re frantically looking under bushes for your kid’s escaped pet hamster.
Either way, it’s a good idea to take a look at your sprinkler system once in a while. If there’s a problem, there’s probably a clue.
Have you noticed areas of the lawn that seem extra green? Or soggy areas around sprinkler heads? Sounds like some kind of leak.
Or maybe you notice the opposite problem — patches of grass that look dry or dead. Water isn’t making its way to them the way it should.
Either way, you have a problem that needs irrigation system repairs of some sort.
Here’s a look at a few common irrigation system problems:
Sprinkler System Problems: It Might Be Low Head Drainage
Sometimes water flows onto your sidewalk or curb after the sprinklers turn off, like some sort of weird mystery. If the sprinklers are off, what’s the deal with this flowing water?
It means water is draining out of the lowest head in your sprinkler system after it’s done watering. It’s actually a pretty common reason for why your sprinkler system is leaking even though it’s off.
When the water flowing to a zone is turned off after watering, any water left in the lines will drain downhill to the lowest point. Then it flows out of the sprinkler head until all of the water has emptied out of the zone’s pipes.
This sprinkler system problem often happens when the sprinkler system is installed on a sloped area. After the water in the pipes drains out through the lowest sprinkler heads it’s replaced by air.
Watch the sprinkler heads when your system turns on. If they spit and spew air when the valve turns on, this is usually a sign of low head drainage.
If water is always puddling in a low area of your yard, or if it streams across a walkway or your driveway, irrigation specialists can install check valves to prevent low head drainage, stopping the drainage after the system shuts off.
Irrigation System Problems Include Leaky Valves
If you have water flowing from a sprinkler head continuously, even when the sprinkler system is off, then the problem could be a leaky valve.
The big difference between low head drainage and a leaky valve is that low head drainage results in water flowing from the sprinklers located in the lowest locations for a while after they run but stops once the pipes are drained.
If a valve is leaking, the water may run out of sprinkler heads all of the time. Do you see puddles of water around a sprinkler head? Chances are you have a leaky valve.
Irrigation pros will take the valve apart, clean it, replace any bad parts and then reassemble it. Sometimes it’s just dirt, gravel or a rock stuck in the valve causing it to stick open.
If you’re doing this yourself, you might as well check all the valves in the valve box, since you already have the box handy.
Bubbles Aren’t Always Fun: Time for Sprinkler System Repair
If you notice a bubble in your lawn that can be as big as 10 feet around and feels like you’re walking on a waterbed when you stroll across it, at first, that might seem kind of fun. But you likely have a broken pipe, or a sprinkler head has broken off of the riser.
When this happens, it separates the grass from the dirt below, causing this weird bubble.
This is a more time-consuming fix than a valve issue or low head drainage.
Irrigation pros need to dig up and expose the pipe to fix the problem.
Irrigation System Repair: Those Hard-working Heads
Your sprinkler heads go through a lot out there. Lawn mowers clobber them. Snow plows hit them. Freezing and thawing ground around them shifts them out of whack. They get clogged with debris. Honestly, they deserve some sort of prize.
If you’re noticing irrigation system problems, check those heads. They might need help.
Sprinkler System Problems: Low or High Water Pressure
What’s the water situation out there? Do your sprinkler heads barely spray any water, or are they more like geysers spewing water everywhere?
When sprinkler heads don’t fully pop out of the ground or provide poor water coverage, it could be the result of low pressure.
There might be something blocking the sprinkler head. Easy fix. Or there could be an underground leak that needs to be repaired. That’s a job for the pros. A broken sprinkler head somewhere could also be robbing pressure.
Are your sprinkler heads misting, instead of spraying a steady flow? That’s a sign your water pressure is too high.
You can install sprinkler heads that help regulate water pressure or pressure reducers on the valves. This will keep that spray flowing just right.
Need Sprinkler System Repair in Idaho Falls? Trust Outback
An automatic sprinkler system is a huge boost to your landscaping and your budget. It saves you time and money because you can set your system to water exactly when your plants need it, without any water waste.
But if your sprinkler system isn’t working properly, you’re not getting those great benefits. Keep that system running right.
Outback Landscape’s skilled and experienced irrigation technicians will expertly tackle all your irrigation system needs, checking your controller, sprinkler heads and zones and taking care of any fixing, replacing or adjusting that’s needed.
And since we have most of the parts necessary for repairs on our irrigation maintenance trucks, you’ll be back to perfect watering in no time, so your landscaping is thriving and you’re not wasting water.
Regular sprinkler inspections will also help us catch potential problems before they become big, costly ones.
Give us a call.
Located in Idaho Falls, Idaho, we serve residential and commercial properties in Idaho Falls, Rexburg and Pocatello, Idaho, as well as Bonneville, Madison and Bannock counties. Call us at 208-656-3220, or fill out the form here to schedule an onsite consultation.
We’d love to hear from you.
