Denver Sprinkler Blowout

We provide sprinkler blowout and winterization for Stapleton and Lowry on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday’s so please use this site to schedule below.

If you’d like to schedule your sprinkler winterization appointment, please use our scheduling app below:

Not finding an available time slot? If it’s not going to get below say 27 or so for more than an hour or two, you can always cover the exposed (above ground pipes with a blanket and trash bag which will help delay the formation of ice withing the pipes.

What can you do if a freeze warning is issued and you find that I’m all booked up for the next few days? You can send me a text message and I will try to accommodate you as best I can. Voice-mail is inefficient at best – if I can answer, I will. If I do not, it probably means I’m beyond capacity – thank you for your understanding!

I may drain the supply side pipes (if there is a drain plug available – if this is missing, I’ll let you know and recommend what should be changed or added so that your pipes will stay intact). I’m able to hook into most non-standard setups as well as I have a variety of fittings to get the water out of your sprinkler system.

DIY – Preventative measures
What to do if you cannot get your sprinkler blown out before a hard freeze?

1. Shut off the water valve that supplies the sprinkler system (often in the basement or crawlspace).

2. Find the pressure vacuum breaker (see below), open the 2 test cocks to 45 degrees with a flat head screw driver – (not fully open nor fully closed – 45 degree angle!).
   

3. The larger ball valves (they often have a rubber covering) should be opened and left at a 45 degree angle to prevent freezing and cracking the sides of the ball valve. If there is a small waste drain valve at the elbow of your copper pipes – open it to allow water to flow out of the PVB.

4. Open any and all drains in the valve manifold box(es) – they often look like a cross and can be difficult to open – (remember – left loosy/righty tighty)

5. For main sprinkler valves in basements, you must drain the water pipe from the vacuum breaker back to the main sprinkler valve by using the drain cap on the main sprinkler shutoff valve or other drains connected to that pipe.

6. Go back inside near the primary sprinkler shutoff valve and loosen/remove the waste valve cap and drain the line with gravity (if/where possible). (remember, nothing will come out if you didn’t open the lower or both test cocks and the valves – either all the way open or 45’d…then after drained sufficiently, go back and ensure that all testcocks/valves are at 45 degrees.

7. Don’t worry so much about the buried sprinkler lines and heads – they should be okay for mild freezes lasting only a day or so (>28 degrees) as the ground is still warm in early October.

For the DIY folks:

The Vacuum Breaker device must be protected from freezing. Thermal water expansion and/or water hammer downstream of the backflow preventer can cause excessive pressure increases. Excessive pressure situations should be eliminated to avoid possible damage to the system and device.

Draining Procedure:

To drain the backflow prevention assembly for protection against freezing, use the following procedures:

1. Turn off the main shut-off valve which provides water to the system.
2. Open all inlet and outlet drain valves on the system. Open inlet and outlet shut-off valves on backflow prevention assembly and all testcocks. Leave in half open / half closed (45° degree) position to allow for full drainage of ball valve shut-offs. See ball valve draining procedure.
3. Should you “blowout” the piping system downstream of the backflow prevention assembly, make sure the outlet drain valve is open and the backflow prevention outlet shut-off valve is closed.
4. Connect an air line to the outlet drain valve and introduce air of adequate volume to clear downstream system of water.
5. Important: Open outlet shut-off valves to the backflow preventer assembly (C and D) to a half open / half closed (45° degree) position after “blowout” procedure is complete.
6. Leave all drain valves , testcocks and ball or gate valves to backflow preventer in a half open / half closed position for the winter to prevent freezing.

CFM: Cubic Feet per Minute – this is important with regard to the sprinkler winterization & blowout process. Insufficient CFM can result in poorly winterized systems and will take much longer = more heat on internal parts. Don’t allow someone to increase the PSI (Pressure per Square Inch) as you could sustain damage to numerous parts if they exceed the safe levels. So, in order to help you understand the difference between CFM and PSI, CFM refers to volume of air where PSI is the pressure. We need to apply sufficient volume of air to displace the volume of water that rests inside the sprinkler manifold, pipes and sprinkler heads.