Truckee & North Lake Tahoe Landscaper Prevents Irrigation System Freeze Damage with Insulated Cover

www.estatelandscape.com

Mark Osberg, Pres., Estate Landscape & Irrigation, Inc.

Fall is near and soon the leaves will change color and the temperatures will start to fall. It is time to winterize your gardens and time to think about winterizing your sprinkler system. A sprinkler system can be damaged from freezing temperatures if any water is left in it. A simple way to prevent such damage is by having a landscape professional install an insulated cover over the backflow preventer.

There are two main locations of your system. One is below ground and one is above ground. Most all of the pieces that make up the system are plastic and can freeze and break. Before any hard freeze occurs it is important to drain all the water from the entire sprinkler system. There are a couple ways to do this; use compressed air to blow out any water or use manual drain valves that are at all low points. These can be opened and left open for the winter. Using compressed air is cumbersome and can be expensive. If you system was installed with manual drains there is no need to use compressed air.

All the pipes and valves below ground are safe from freezing until properly drained. If any of the valves, or the backflow preventer, is above ground you should take precautions now to protect them. Most all backflow devices are above ground. Placing an insulated cover over the backflow device is the best idea. If the backflow device is drained properly there is no need to remove it for the winter. One exception would be if it is vulnerable from being damaged by snow plows or snow removal operations.

Cold temperatures come late into Spring in the mountains of Truckee and Lake Tahoe.

This cover can add another benefit by keeping your backflow preventer protected in the Spring as well when your system is activated for the coming summer season.

If you don´t have a cover now, here is a simple way to create a cover. Fill a garbage bag with pine needles and place this over the backflow device. Make sure the device is imbedded inside the pine needles for optimum insulation. It isn´t pretty but it works. The down side of this method is each year you will have to make up a new "insulating cover" the same way. Over the winter the bag will be damaged by the pressure of the snow and not last for a second winter.

There are companies that sell insulating covers specifically made for this purpose that will last many years. We install these on all our clients´ backflow device that sign up for Start-up and shut down and on all new sprinkler installations. This past Spring I instructed our Sprinkler Technicians to install these covers for all our clients´ systems, if the system didn´t already have one.

This insulating cover will allow the system to water later into the fall, and also earlier in the Spring, when plants still need water. Until the ground temperature goes below 50 degrees, root systems are still processing and storing carbohydrates for next Spring when the plants come out of dormancy.

Visit our website www.estatelandscape.com or call today to have us install this insulated cover. 530-546-2042

www.estatelandscape.com