When to Blow Out Your Sprinkler System in Yakima

Yakima summers are hot and dry, and a lawn sprinkler system earns its keep from May through September. Then the nights turn cold, the grass slows down, and it is easy to forget the system is still full of water. That water is the problem. Water left in underground pipes and valves will freeze, and ice takes up more room than water does.

So when should you shut the system down and blow it out? Akland's guidance for Yakima is to schedule your winterization blowout between mid-October and early November. Freezing temperatures usually show up in Yakima by mid-November, and anything left behind can freeze, expand, and crack your backflow assembly and underground valves.

Why the window matters

Start too early and you may lose a few weeks of watering when the weather turns warm again, which happens in a Yakima fall. Wait too long and you risk a hard freeze catching the system full of water. The mid-October to early November window sits between those two problems. It is also a short stretch, so calling at the start of October beats calling the week the forecast turns ugly.

The damage from a freeze is rarely obvious until spring. You turn the system on in April and find a geyser in the flower bed, a valve that will not close, or a zone that never gets any pressure. Cracked pipes and broken sprinkler heads are both on the shop's repair list, and a freeze is one easy way to end up with them.

What a blowout actually is

A blowout uses compressed air to push the water out of the system. The water supply to the system is shut off, and then air is fed into the lines one zone at a time, which sends the water out through the sprinkler heads until they spit only mist and air. Each zone gets its turn so the water in every pipe, valve and head has somewhere to go.

It sounds simple, and it can be done wrong. Too much air pressure can damage heads and fittings, and too little air volume leaves water pooled in low spots, where it can freeze and split a pipe. A shop that does blowouts regularly has the right compressor and knows how to work through the zones. Akland does blow out sprinkler systems, so you do not need to own the equipment.

What you can do before the visit

• Unhook garden hoses from outdoor spigots and store them. A hose left attached can trap water against the faucet.
• Make a note of any zones that were acting up this summer, such as weak spray, a head that stuck down, or a patch that never got wet.
• Know where your shutoff valve and your controller are, and tell the technician if you have trouble finding either.
• Clear leaves and gravel away from valve boxes so the crew can get in.

If your sprinklers run off a private pump, from a well, a pond or a ditch, the pump needs attention at shutdown too. Akland's repair shop offers a winter storage program for irrigation pumps, so ask about it when you call. A pump that has been drained and put away properly is a pump you do not have to worry about when the first hard frost arrives.

Spring start-up

Akland also starts systems up and adjusts them in the spring. That visit is where the winter's damage shows itself. The usual routine is to bring water back into the lines slowly, run each zone, and look for broken heads, leaks, and heads spraying the sidewalk instead of the lawn. Catching a cracked fitting on day one of the season is a lot better than finding it in July when the grass is turning brown.

Brenda Kelly put it simply in a review: “Helpful and friendly staff helped me diagnose and fix my lawn irrigation system. Thank you!”

A note on summer pressure problems

If your system loses pressure in the middle of summer, it is worth looking beyond the sprinkler heads. On pumps that draw canal water, a clogged suction screen is a common cause. Worn pump impellers and leaking underground mainlines can also be to blame. In peak July heat, heavy neighborhood demand can drop line pressure too. A field inspection sorts out which one it is. Bring up anything like this when the crew is out for the blowout, so the fix can be planned before next season.

Akland repairs existing sprinkler systems, but no longer designs new ones, so if your system is broken or aging and you want it kept running, that is the right place to start. To book a blowout, call the shop at (509) 452-7867 or stop by 3701 Fruitvale Blvd, Monday through Friday, 7:30 to 5. Earlier in October is better than later.