Irrigation: Fall Shut-Downs An early sign of fall’s arrival

by Meta Levin

Due to COVID19, irrigation shut-downs, just like everything else this year, will be normal and not-sonormal.

Crews are wearing protective equipment both for their own and customers’ safety; they are taking pains to clean everything and some customers are doing certain tasks on their own.

“Whenever we shut down, we need to turn off the water and the shut off valves are inside the house,” says Brett Gold of American National Sprinkler & Lighting. That means that either irrigation technicians must enter customer’s homes or they do it themselves.

Most irrigation contractors are offering residential customers the option of shutting off their own water. Allowing the contractors to do it, as has happened in the past, the clients would need to allow technicians access to the home, be it the basement, the garage or wherever the water shut-off valves are located.

Last spring, Alex Mayfield of JM Irrigation LLC, estimates that 5 to 10 percent of his residential customers opted to do it themselves and he expects about the same number will want to turn off their own water. “They prefer that we don’t come into the house,” he says. Gold estimates that 10 to 15 percent of his customers chose the do-it-yourself method.

To make things easy, American National Sprinkler & Lighting posted a how-to video on its website to tell customers how to properly turn on/off the water. The video showed customers what to look for and

where to find it. “Most took it in stride,” says Gold.

When turning the water off, they must also drain the pipes. Irrigation contractors can explain that process and answer any questions.

Mayfield notes that his commercial customers usually know what they’re doing and can shut off the water themselves. Once the water is off, the next steps are just as straightforward. Crews disconnect the RPG (backflow prevention device) and either bring it inside the house or let the homeowner do it. In the latter case, the irrigation team can leave it in a designated spot and the homeowner can take care of stowing it indoors for the winter, says Mayfield. These RPGs must be protected from the cold weather that can cause damage. If, however, homeowners choose to allow the crews to take care of the shut-off, irrigation contractors are taking extra precautions to ensure the safety and health of their customers and crews alike. As a matter of course, “our techs wear masks and gloves,” says Gold. So do Mayfield’s. The contractors are careful to clean all equipment between jobs and some wear booties over their shoes if they must enter the home. “We spray everything with an anti-viral spray before and after each site visit, and wipe equipment with paper towels after spraying,” says Gold. “We do a thorough cleaning (continued on page 28)

(continued from page 26) between jobs,” says Mayfield

Once the water is off, the pipes drained and the RPG removed, the crews still must use an air compressor to blow water out of the pipes zone by zone. While doing that, they check the system for any damage or breakage, “so that we can properly repair or replace it in the spring,” says Mayfield. Customers with damage or breakage are notified, so that they can schedule the work for the spring.

Contractors often rent larger compressors for big jobs and smaller, lighter weight ones for such things as Chicago roof-top garden systems. “Ninety percent of our jobs use a standard compressor,” says Gold. Some residential properties, however, have “acres and acres and, we have to use major commercialsize compressors.”

Mayfield instructs technicians to take notes of anything they find during a shut-down, so the information can be entered into the database. “We want to ensure everything is up-to-date,” he says.

Still, there can be surprises in the spring. “Sometimes homeowners put in end-of-the-year landscapes in midNovember,” says Gold. That can involve such things as new perennial beds. “Most of the time’ we find out when we get there to open up the system in the spring.” Then, they must schedule new work to make sure the irrigation system is appropriate for the new landscape. Timing is important. The work should be done before the first hard freeze. For residential customers that usually means everything is shut down by Halloween – October 31. Large commercial customers have a little more leeway, but most irrigation contractors would like to have everything finished before midNovember; Thanksgiving at the very latest. “Last year, we had our first freeze on November 1,” says Gold. “If there is water in the line, it can cause damage to the pipes and back-flow preventers. That is expensive.” A hard freeze can even damage the sprinkler heads themselves. August is scheduling time, or at least, reminding time for those who scheduled shut-down appointments early. “In late August we send out reminders for those customers, who already scheduled a shut- down,” says Mayfield. Both Mayfield and Gold note that in this fast-changing environment, they do not know how next spring will play out. In any case, they are staying flexible and ready to meet any challenges the pandemic, weather, or anything else may throw at them.