We offer an annual service for winterizing your system at the onset of Winter and a full health check and start up in Spring. This ensures your system is protected from frost damage during the winter months and you have an automatic irrigation trouble free summer and throughout the watering season. Winterizing Your Irrigation System by Tich Touch can be seen in our gallery, however should you choose to do it yourself, follow the guidelines below. Tich Touch strongly recommend taking an annual winter service with us to guarantee that your service is done properly and your irrigation investment safeguarded for the long term.

Every year, before the first freeze, the ritual of irrigation "drainage or blow out" becomes the priority for all irrigation systems that are in regions of the country where the frost level extends below the depth of the installed piping, normaly about a foot, sometimes as shallow as half a foot.

Even if you have drained some water out of the system, the remaining water can freeze, expand and crack the MDPE  and PVC (rigid, white pipes) system pipes, usually from fitting to fitting. MDPE  (flexible, black pipe) is used in many freezing climates. Although polyethylene pipe is more flexible and can expand under pressure, water left inside could freeze and rupture the pipe walls. Freezing water in the backflow assembly will damage the internal components and could possibly crack the brass body.

To minimize the risk of freeze damage to your irrigation system, you’ll need to "winterize" your irrigation system

Irrigation systems in areas where "winterization" is mandatory are installed using one of three types of water removal in mind: manual drain, auto drain, or blowout. If you don’t know your system type, it would be best to use the blowout method. The blow out system is the standard Tich Touch Ltd winterisation service and is guaranteed to ensure frost damage will not happen to your system. This services is best left to us who really know how best to do it.

Manual Drain Method

Use when manual valves are located at the end and low points of the irrigation piping. To drain these systems, simply shut off the irrigation water supply (shut off will be located at water source or near the system supply tank and will be either a gate/globe valve, ball valve or stop and waste valve - see drawings below) and open all the manual drain valves. Once the water has drained out of the mainline and lateral lines, drain all the remaining water that is between the irrigation water shut off valve and the backflow prevention device.  If your sprinklers have check valves you’ll need to pull up on the sprinklers to allow the water to drain out the bottom of the sprinkler body. Depending on the location of the drain valves, there could be some water left in the backflow, the piping and the sprinklers. When all the water has drained out, close all the manual drain valves.

Automatic Drain Method

Use when automatic drain valves are located at the end and low points of the irrigation piping. These will automatically open and drain water if the pressure in the piping is less than 10 PSI. To activate these, you shut off the irrigation water supply (shut off will be located at water source or near the system supply tank and will be either a gate/globe valve, ball valve or stop and waste valve - see drawings below) and open all the manual drain valves. Once the water has drained out of the mainline and lateral lines, drain all the remaining water that is between the irrigation water shut off valve and the backflow prevention device. If your sprinklers have check valves you’ll need to pull up on the sprinklers to allow the water to drain out the bottom of the sprinkler body. Depending on the location of the drain valves, there could be some water left in the backflow, the piping and in the sprinklers. In some systems you might have a combination of the manual drain system on the mainline (the pipe between the irrigation water shut off valve and the valves) and auto drain system on the lateral lines (the pipe between the valves and the sprinklers).

In some systems you might have a combination of the manual drain system on the mainline (the pipe between the irrigation water shut off valve and the valves) and auto drain system on the lateral lines (the pipe between the valves and the sprinklers).

Tich Touch compressed air method (highly recommended)

WARNING! This method requires trained and skilled technicians for health and safety as well as ensuring the service is carried out properly and effectively! Extreme care must always be taken when blowing out the system with compressed air. Compressed air can cause serious injury, including serious eye injury, from flying debris. Always wear approved safety eye protection and do not stand over any irrigation components (pipes, sprinklers and valves) during air blow out. SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURY MAY RESULT IF YOU DO NOT PROCEED AS RECOMMENDED!

It is recommended that a qualified contractor perform this type of "Winterization" method. The blow out method utilizes an air compressor with a Cubic Foot per Minute (CFM) rating of 80-100 for any mainline of 2" or less. These types of compressors can be rented at your local equipment rental yard. The compressor is attached to the mainline via a quick coupler, hose bib or other type connection, which is located at tank outlet isolation valve or in a valve box. Compressed air should not be blown through any backflow prevention device. To start the "blow out", shut off the irrigation water supply and, with the compressor valve in the closed position, attach the air compressor hose to the fitting. Activate the station on the controller that is the zone or sprinklers highest in elevation and the furthest from the compressor. Close the backflow isolation valves. Then slowly open the valve on the compressor; this should gradually introduce air into the irrigation system. The blow out pressure should remain below the maximum operating pressure specification of the lowest pressure rated component on that zone and should NEVER exceed 80 PSI.

Each station/zone should be activated starting from the furthest station/zone from the compressor slowly working your way to the closest station/zone to the compressor. Each station/zone should be activated until no water can be seen exiting the heads, this should take approximately two minutes or more per station/zone. It is better to use two or three short cycles per station/zone than to have one long cycle. Once the station/zone is dry, you should not continue to blow air through the pipe. Compressed air moving through dry pipes can cause friction, which will create heat and the heat could cause damage.

Additional Steps

Once the water has been removed from the irrigation system, disconnect the air compressor and release any air pressure that may be present. If your backflow device, the most common backflow installed is called a Pressure Vacuum Breaker, has ball valves, open and close the isolation valves on the backflow device numerous times to ensure that any trapped water has escaped from the upper areas. Leave the isolation valves open at a 45° angle (approximately 1/2 open) and open the test cocks.