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How to determine irrigation zones for sprinkler
blowouts
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In Calgary,
most residential irrigation systems have 6 zones or less, but the
larger the yard or more complex the landscape, the greater the chance
of
having more. Sprinkler blowouts in Calgary are priced based
on
the number of zones in a residential yard. There are a
few ways to quickly determine how many zones or irrigation valves are
on an underground sprinkler system:
1) Determine how many areas or sections of the yard get watered
individually (BY AREAS)
2) Go to the valve boxes (typically green) in the yard or landscaped
areas and count the number of valves connected to the underground
sprinkler system (BY VALVES)
1) BY AREAS:
An
irrigation zone or station is a section of your yard or
landscape
that gets watered at one time. For example, in a residential
property, the front yard
might have one or two zones, the side yard may have one zone and the
back yard might have multiple zones. Typically the
grass or
turf is on a seperate zones to those of the beds or flower
sections. Each time a different group of sprinklers pops out
of the ground, a new station or zone is running. In the
picture below, the
irrigation system has 5 zones.

Above each AREA would be broken into an irrigation zone or irrigation
station. When the irrigation timer turns on one zone, one
area of the yard gets watered.
2) BY VALVES:
An irrigation zone starts at the valve which is connected to
the main line of the
irrigation system. The valves are then connected by pipe to
the sprinklers in the yard. The valves are placed in green
valve boxes within the yard, typically by the side of the house, but
can be anywhere in the yard. Below is a picture of a valve
box with 4 valves, or 4 zones. This irrigation system has 2
valve
boxes, with 4 valves in one box and 3 vales in another box for a
irrigation system with 7 valves.

Four electric valves in one valve box on a residential irrigation
system.
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