PROFITABLE PRACTICES: Chill Out

Mickey Irvin remembers it well.

“I work in the San Francisco Bay area and it’s very temperate,” he says. “But 17 years ago we had an unusually cold December. I was visiting my mom in Florida, and on the news they were talking about how cold it was in California. I thought, ‘These Floridians don’t know what cold is.’ Then, when I returned home, it was devastation on irrigation systems and plants.”

It was a scene out of an irrigation contractor’s worst nightmare. Virtually no commercial or private properties had taken the time to perform the relatively simple task of winterizing their life-sustaining irrigation systems.

“Since that winter, I protect all my backflows, filters and anything else that is above ground upon installation,” says Irvin, owner of Select Environments in San Carlos, Calif. “In the recent past we have gone to ‘smart controllers,’ so now we don’t have to set percentages per month or turn off the system for winter.”

Irvin also believes in winterizing for temperate climate states.

“Above ground gear driven rotors or above ground sprinklers with check valves should be drained,” he says.

In colder climates, winterizing an irrigation system is more complex and time-consuming. Compressed air is often blown through the entire piping system to push out as much water as possible before the winter months. This prevents water from expanding and cracking pipes and joints, which can result in thousands of dollars worth of damage.

 “We generally try to get everything done during the month of October,” says Shannon Martin, president of Brampton Irrigation, Inc., located in Ontario, Canada. “But typically we’re still winterizing into November. The damage done if a system is not properly winterized can be dramatic. Polypropylene pipe is more forgiving and will split in perhaps one or two places and the problem can be fixed. PVC is not as forgiving and the crack can go the entire length of a run. But pipe is pennies when you consider all the other fittings, valves and sprinkler heads involved. When they crack you are talking about digging the entire system out, and that costs thousands of dollars.”

Equally important are the areas that straddle the line between cold and temperate climates. Are they safe from the ravages of nature?

“I have seen a brass backflow device split and underground pipes split in two,” says Don Elm, owner of Thirsty Lawns in Spring Hill, Tenn., one of the states in the guesswork weather zones. “I watch the 10-day forecast and if it is going to get down below freezing on consecutive days, I go around and blow out the systems I service with compressed air to get the water out.”

Says Lance Elliott, brand manager for Hunter Industries in San Marcos, Calif., “In the southern states, there might be a more lackadaisical attitude toward irrigation systems. As far north as Tennessee, businesses aren’t aggressive in winterizing systems. But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. I saw it happen maybe 10 to 20 times while I was working in Alabama, where severe cold would damage a system. It might be hard to explain to a customer in some northern areas of the South that they need to winterize. But I don’t care if the pipe is made with titanium, it will crack if water inside freezes and expands. I think a ‘better safe than sorry’ attitude should prevail.”

Many states mandate that irrigation pipes be placed at certain depths in the soil profile to guard against winter freeze, which further helps to protect modern systems in cold weather. And a certain degree of protection against cold weather can be designed into an irrigation system, says Larry Rodgers, president and principal owner of Larry Rodgers Design Group in Lakewood, Colo.

“Most irrigation systems designed today are installed with gravity drains,” Rodgers says. “In a perfect world, that would be enough. But it’s not a perfect world and water will always remain somewhere in the system when it is turned off. If you want to properly protect the system you have to evacuate the water from pipes and that is usually done with air compressors of varying size.”

Adds Rodgers, “A compressor that is operating around 60 PSI is usually plenty for a residential lawn and landscape with a 5-horsepower compressor to do the job. You might go to a 10-horsepower compressor to blow out larger system to allow for the cleaning of the main and lateral lines.”

Says Martin, “We have an air compressor that allows us to run as high as 300 PSI for large systems, but generally we run it around 80 PSI or less for homes. We can get in and do two or three zones at a time and we’re out in hardly any time.” He says the cost of draining a system can be as little as $80 to $90 for a home to several hundred dollars for a commercial property.

Don Mann, sales manager for Rain Bird National Sales Corporation in Asuza, Calif., says fees for winterizing irrigation systems vary.

“I’ve seen the charge go two ways, per zone and the time it takes or a flat fee,” he says. “It ranges quite a bit and it’s really up to the contractor.”

And it’s money well spent. Martin shares another horror story.

“There was a townhouse complex that switched hands late in the year and the property had a full irrigation system,” he says. “When the new property management team came in they found out from the landscaper that the system hadn’t been winterized, just shut off. We got a call before Christmas and you couldn’t stick a screwdriver into the ground. The system couldn’t be winterized.

The next spring almost the entire system had to be replaced and it was around $20,000 in damage. It was just negligence – one owner or property manager not informing the other about the situation.”

Thus, it is imperative for individuals or companies when considering assuming ownership of a property, especially in the colder climates of the United States and Canada, to practice due diligence concerning the status of the property’s irrigation system, even prior to taking over ownership in order to insure that the system will be winterized.

Winterizing an irrigation system is a basic undertaking. The water to the system must be turned off at the main valve, the automatic irrigation controller should be set to the “rain” setting, each of the valves need to be turned off to release pressure in the pipes and all water must be drained out of irrigation components that might freeze.

The task of winterization varies from region to region. In temperate climates, the main shut off valve for the system must be freeze proofed (i.e. either putting it below the frost line, inside a heated room and/or wrapped with insulation). Any above ground gear-driven roto sprinkler needs to have the water drained from it because it may freeze and rupture, and above ground piping should be insulated. Backflow preventers and valves can be removed and stored inside if they’re above ground. Safeguarding the backflow preventers and valves with insulation will also work.

In cold climates, winterizing an irrigation system requires a bit more work and detail. Again, the main shut off valve needs to be freeze proofed. The backflow preventer should be removed, the water in the risers needs to be evacuated and the risers capped. Each drain valve at a low point in the system must be drained, a tricky situation because water usually will not completely drain out of the valves. The valves can be disassembled and dried out before being placed back on, or they can be removed and stored for the winter. Sprinkler heads should also be drained because water can become trapped in them and can cause damage when frozen.

But here comes the challenging part of the operation: All water must be removed from the system, and usually the method used for this is the previously mentioned air compressor. It is a task better left to the professionals. Too much air being forced through a system can result in the type of damage you’re trying to prevent.

The air pressure being forced through the pipes should increase slowly and water should never be blasted out with a sudden burst of air. And air should never be blown through a backflow preventer or a pump because the equipment could be damaged in the process.

Says Mann, “You can also run into problems with heat buildup in the pipes if you are forcing too great a volume of air through the system. Water doesn’t heat up as it passes through piping but air can and will soften and weaken some of the components.”

Irvin says winterizing a system in the northern U.S. should be done by a professional who has the proper equipment and knows how to handle the job.

“A property owner can do it, but someone who has done it, seen it, experienced it would be my choice.”

Elliott agrees.

“Think about it,” he says. “An irrigation system in many ways is a more sophisticated appliance than a refrigerator or a washing machine. But for whatever reason, some people think Mr. or Mrs. Johnson can winterize an irrigation system but they need a professional to put a new heating coil in their refrigerator. And you have to remember that this appliance, the irrigation system, is buried beneath the earth and you can’t see it. The wisdom of a licensed, professional contractor can make the task easier and safer.”

Professional contractors can also troubleshoot the system when winterizing it, Elliott says.

“A professional is looking for small leaks or escapes of air during the draining of the system that may go undetected during the normal course of use. You’re diagnosing the system for problems. Maybe you go to the homeowner or property manager and say that station seven isn’t working properly and you’ll find that there was some digging or work done in that area of the property during the year. That’s something the homeowner or property manager might not remember when you’re ready to turn the system back on in the spring.”

He adds, “It’s also smart from a business standpoint, because if you’re troubleshooting and correcting problems late in the year it’s work that you are getting for your company at a time when things are usually slowing down.”

It also makes good business sense to communicate with customers on the importance of winterizing and to even set up an appointment several months in advance to have the system serviced.

“Instead of waiting for them to call you, hand them a card with an appointment date to come and winterize the system,” Elliott says. “It isn’t being deceptive, merely pro-active with your customer.”