Winterizing your irrigation system

Listen to this radio show (MP3 download) or read below.

Radio interview source: Mike Higgins, golf and turf sales manager, Grand Junction Pipe & Supply

My dad has an irrigation system for his pick-your-own fruit farm, and depends on it during the dry summers. In the late fall, he drains all the water out of the lines because he doesn't want the system to freeze and break the pipes and pumps.

Mike Higgins is an expert on sprinkler systems, and says before winter, disconnect the pump, drain it, and bring it inside.

"If something freezes and breaks on that, that's going to be your most expensive thing to fix," Higgins says. "If you happen to have a backflow preventer, I would take it off and bring it inside as well. Store it somewhere where it's warm enough that it won't freeze because there are a lot of pieces and parts, little rubber washers and stuff that can dry out and wear out."

Shut off the water supply to the irrigation system. The main shut off valve needs to be freeze-proof. That means it should be below the frost line, inside a heated room, or wrapped with insulation.