Some studies have found that up to 50% of landscape water goes to waste due to evaporation, run off, wind, and improper system design. This can mean up to 25000 gallons of water wasted every year. Having an educated technician out to audit the efficiency of your system can make sure you are getting the most out of your sprinkler system while not breaking the bank on your water bill. Listed below are a few options to make your system more efficient; 

• Have a rain sensor or smart watering controller installed
• Install sprinkler heads with check valves inside them. A check valve holds water in the head and lines, preventing the water from draining out through the heads when the zone isn’t running
• Check the system for leaks
• Have pressure regulated heads and low volume nozzles installed 
• Water deeper and less frequently. Contrary to popular belief, when you water more frequently you can actually harm your lawn. Frequent watering causes a shallow root depth in your lawn and can also lead to more runoff. We recommend watering 2-3 times a week in Calgary to promote deep and strong root growth.

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Leaks on an irrigation system are hard to spot and can often go unnoticed for long periods of time. That being said, there are a few signs that may indicate you have a leak on your irrigation system somewhere. Look for dry or soggy spots on your lawn, areas where the soil appears to be washed out by water, unexplained increases in your water bill, overgrown areas, and listen for leaks in the pipes. If you are worried your system has a leak, book a service appointment with our office to get an experienced technician to assess the situation.

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While rain/weather sensors are recommended for efficient watering, if you do not have one you can turn the dial on your controller to the ‘Off’ position on the controller when rain is in the forecast. After the rainy period is over, turn the dial back to the ‘Auto’ or ‘Run’ position. All settings in the controller will still be saved to what they were before the dial was turned off.

• Wifi controllers allow us to access your system without having to go inside, allowing for savings on labour time during repairs and startups
• The homeowner or contractor can adjust your controller remotely when not home
• Save money on water bill during rainy periods
• Will increase water times during hot season 
• Each zone can have a smart watering program for its personal gardening needs
• Easily change controller settings for water restrictions or other reasons all from your phone

• Controller settings may be wrong, leading to over watering or under watering of landscape. Our technicians will walk each zone and make sure the proper run time and schedule is programmed for your yards needs. 
• Leaks may be detected that you would not usually notice because the sprinklers are coming on early in the morning. Leaks on your system can drastically increase your water bill and will also reduce pressure of the system causing coverage loss. Our technicians will be looking and listening for any abnormalities
• Avoid paying a call out fee because we are already on site and have available tools and expertise for repairs
• Sprinklers could be wrongly adjusted leading to spraying at houses, cars, fences, decks and other areas leading to wasted water and in extreme cases damage to the foundation of the house. 
• Peace of mind to know that your system has been thoroughly checked through and there are no leaks or improperly adjusted nozzles. 
• Our experienced technicians can provide recommendations if the system is outdated and not performing efficiently due to landscape changes, pressure changes, outdated products, wrong nozzle/head types etc.

• Once the ground temperatures have reached above freezing, it is typically safe to start up your sprinkler system. Variances may occur depending on the location of your property and how much sunlight the ground gets in different areas of your lawn (north facing shady areas will take longer to thaw out). 
• We typically begin doing startups on the first Monday in May.

This happens a lot at activation.

Most of the time, it is a electric valve issue.  The electric valves are generally in a green box in the ground.  The electric valves have solenoids and or bleed screws that are difficult to close properly during the winterizing process –  they are plastic parts that easily wear out.

Basically it is impossible to know if all the valves are closed after the winterizing process –  as the water is no longer on to the sprinkler system.  

If you look in the green box, and there is water coming out of a part on the electric valve, we suggest trying to gently tighten the part. If unsuccessful, a service call is likely needed.

Dry patches can be due to a number of things, such as too short of run time / water on a given area, initial design deficiencies or a maturing landscape now blocking sprinklers.

Lots of recommendations can be put forth to make affordable improvements. 

We specialize in irrigation, so we are prepared to fix these challenges.  

Our service vans are stocked with over 625+ unique parts for maintaining irrigation systems.

Most changes or repairs can be completed in only one visit.

Yes. To do a proper job, we need access to the inside of the house.

Each system is very personal, we want you to be satisfied and the best way is to be home, talking with the technician, asking questions, pointing out items of importance.

Our experience tells us communication breakdowns are higher in cases where the decision maker cannot be present, and leads to frustration with all parties involved.

Yes! 

Of course, please however follow our procedure below “How do I turn on my own sprinklers?”.  If you have questions, call our office for help.  403-613-0552

Please DO NOT turn the water ON and set the controller to run with out doing a system check thru.  

It takes about 45 minutes to turn on and test / check thru a smaller residential property in Calgary. 

A lot of our customers have us perform this as “There is always something broken” or small parts worn out – most are minor but annoying to track down and repair yourself.

We recommend waiting until around May 1st for starting up your sprinkler system in Calgary. Starting  up the system too soon will result in certain parts not functioning correctly, generally causing the water  to leak thru the control valves and water leaking out of the sprinklers or zone refusing to shut down. If  this occurs, turn the system off and wait a few more days.  

If you would like us to complete this procedure for you, please contact our office at 403-613-0552.  This procedure usually takes about 25 – 50 minutes for a typical yard.  

Step 1) Make sure the yard is visibly clear of snow and ice. Find a small probe or a 20cm / 8” screw  driver and test the ground on the north side of the property. Usually on the north side of the property is  where ice and ground thaws out last in Calgary. Probe the ground for frost. If you can not get the probe  easily into the ground, wait until the ground softens up.  

Step 2) Open the valve boxes (usually green in colour).  

1. a) Is there ice in the box? If there is, leave the lid off the box and wait until the ice & water have  melted and drained from the box.  
2. b) Are the bleed screws tight and solenoids in the off / closed position?  
3. c) Is there any broken pipes or parts?  

Step 3) Check for any open hose connections, taps or drain valves on the irrigation mainline. Most  houses have a hose hook up connected to the irrigation system on the mainline outside where the water  exits the house.  

Step 4) Make sure all inside valves are closed.  

Step 5) SLOWLY open the inside mainline isolation valve. Do this very slowly. Water should stop  flowing in a couple minutes. If not, turn the water off to the irrigation system and walk property and  look for signs of water.  

Step 6) For automatic systems, set each zone to run for a 2-3 minute test cycle. Check all zone  components by walking the system with the zone running automatically. Make sure sprinklers are  rotating and spray sprinklers properly covering.  

Step 7) For manual systems, turn on each valve manually and check each zone.  

Step 8) Once all zones have been checked thru, return to the basement of the house and check the water  meter. With no water in the house running and the sprinklers off, the water meter should not be moving.  

Step 9) Program the irrigation controller / time to water. Water schedule should be updated at minimum  monthly during the watering season. New model WiFi controllers connect to the internet and  automatically adjust the controller based on the weather, thus matching the water requirements to the  local weather. We generally set sprinkler controllers to water grass a maximum of 2 – 3 times a week,  unless daytime temperature is over 28C. Watering too often shortens the grasses root zone and weakens  the grass, making the grass susceptible to winter kill, rodents, weeds, stress & washes away the fertilizer.  

** If temperatures drop below zero, we recommend shutting the water off to the sprinkler system and  opening any drain valves. Then once the weather warms, repeat this procedure again.  

Remember to winterize the system before freezing temperatures occur in fall!  – We recommend by the end of September.

For printable version, click here.

We recommend setting your sprinkler timer to run early in the morning, typically from 4AM-7AM. Sprinkler nozzles put out a relatively low volume of water and the spray patterns can easily be distorted by wind. Early mornings historically have the lowest wind levels. This is also when the lawn is coolest and the soil will absorb the highest amount of water before evaporation occurs.

Yes. When water stays in the lines over the winter it will freeze and expand, leading to broken pipes, valves, heads, and fittings. Repair costs in the spring will outweigh the savings of avoiding a blowout by ten fold. If you are getting your system blown out late (usually mid October depending on the weather), special precautions may need to be taken to make sure damages to the system are avoided or minimal.

The irrigation water valve or valves need to be closed and left off until around May 1st.

If you will not be home the day we are schedule to arrive, THE INDOOR WATER VALVE to the sprinkler system must be shut off and LEFT OFF until the winter is over (around May 1st).   

We also suggest that the controller should be turned to the ‘OFF’ setting.  Most controllers have a dial in the center.  The dial is pointed at either ‘Auto’ or “On’ when the controller is set to water.  Turn the dial to the ‘Off’ or ‘Rain’ setting.  If the controller is different and you cannot figure out how to turn it off, it is best to unplug the controller.

• Performing the blowout yourself is not recommended. Using too much pressure or blowing out the zones for too long can cause heat and friction damage to the plastic sprinkler parts in the heads and the valves. Smaller household compressors may have the PSI requirements to blow out the system, but do not have the volume capacity allowing some water to sit in the lines beneath the compressed air. We tow 185 CFM compressors during blowout season to ensure each system is properly blown out. 

Locate the water shut off valve in the basement of the house.

When the handle is parallel with the line it is ON.  When the handle is perpendicular to the line it is OFF. 

You need to turn off the supply line so no water is going to the irrigation system. 

This valve or valves will be on the inside of your house and must remain off until Spring (around May 1st).  If you have multiple isolation valves inline, close ALL the VALVES.  Do NOT trust just ONE valve – as they are known to leak.

Once the water is shut off,  the inside drain valve can be opened.  Usually there is a tap that you can open and drain the water out.  In this picture the drain is actually a little cap on the side of the shutoff valve.  Drain the water and then close it back up again.

A properly installed irrigation system will have a cross connection device installed on it. Prior to 2011 in Calgary, a device known as a DUAL CHECK VALVE was able to be installed. See photo to the right.

Since 2011 a Double Check Valve has been required – which requires annual testing, but protects not only your drinking water, but the municipal water supply. A cross connection device in the City of Calgary generally have a red tag on it marked as the irrigation device. See photo below.

When we do a fall sprinkler blow-out we come with a minimum of  a 185 cfm air compressor and blow the water out, of the irrigation system.  There is a tap on the outside of the house, which we hook up to, that will look similar to the picture below.   We then run the irrigation system manually from the valve box(es) located in the yard.  The valve box(es) are typically green.  A 185+ cfm air compressor is towed behind a vehicle and has the air volume to push the water out of the sprinkler system. Our air compressors are regulated between 55 – 65 psi in order to not damage the sprinkler system. DO NOT LET ANYONE WINTERIZE YOUR SPRINKLER SYSTEM using more then 70 psi.  Using a smaller compressor may or may not have the volume capacity to blow all the water out.  

                                                                

Sprinkler systems are plastic parts that can easily experience excessive wear during Calgary’s harsh winters. Sprinklers can be damaged from winter weather, lawn mowers and aeration, foot and vehicle traffic, shifts in the ground landscape, and even just from being old. It is important to get your system checked by a trained irrigation professional at the start of every year to give you confidence that your system is not wasting water on a small leak somewhere in the system. A leak in the system can increase your water bill rapidly and should be addressed immediately.

Our technicians can assess the pressure of the zone on site and determine if you have sufficient pressure to add another head onto an existing zone in the area. If the pressure is low, you may need to add another zone to get the coverage you need while maintaining good pressure.

• Increase the value of your home
• Noticeably greener grass
• Don’t have to worry about watering the lawn when away from home for extended periods of time
• System is custom designed to match the watering needs of your landscape/gardening requirements
• Saves time spent dragging around hoses all over the lawn
• Smart watering systems can save you money on your water bill

• While every system will require a custom design fit for its personal landscape requirements, a general rule of thumb is $3 per sq. ft. of irrigated area. If your house does not have a DCVA and designated irrigation line, the plumbing to get those installed typically costs approximately $1000 and can be done by Next Rain. If you would like a free installation estimate please contact our office. 

We typically see a pressure range of 40-60 PSI in Calgary depending on the area of the city. Pumps can be installed in areas where the pressure is not sufficient to run a sprinkler system. There are also different nozzle and head options available that require different PSI and flow rates.