REPAIRING A LARGE PIPE LEAK
Common Reasons for Repairs:- Roots
- Animals gone wild
- Lawn maintenance
- Old Man Winter
- Storms
- Old age
- Landscaping & construction
- Oops
- TBD
How Turf, Tree & Shrub Roots Cause Irrigation Damage
Turf and tree and shrub root growth are some of the most common causes of repairs to underground supply lines and sprinkler heads.
Turf growth can hide sprinkler heads – especially if a system hasn’t been used for a year - or more.
Roots can capture sprinkler heads preventing them from popping up or rotating.
Roots can crimp or break buried irrigation supply lines and wires.
ANIMALS GONE WILD
Domestic and wild animals – and pests - can damage valve boxes, supply lines and sprinkler heads.
Animals and rodents like to dig and chew on drip lines, supply lines - and sometimes sprinkler heads.
Rodents can make a mess of anything – including irrigation system valve boxes.
LAWN MAINTENANCE
This ‘always up’ sprinkler head is a repair waiting to happen. It could be run
over and crushed - or clipped off - by lawn mowing equipment.
over and crushed - or clipped off - by lawn mowing equipment.
OLD MAN WINTER...(snowplow and frost damage)
Deep frost can cause underground pipes to heave, damaging
frozen-in-place irrigation supply line joints and wires.
frozen-in-place irrigation supply line joints and wires.
STORM DAMAGE
Lightning can ruin controllers and underground wiring - and falling trees and limbs can damage underground supply lines and sprinkler heads.
When lightning strikes, stuff happens.
OLD AGE...
With time irrigation system components wear out or become obsolete.
This mechanical controller can still work – if parts can be found for repairs, but not as well or efficiently as computerized and WiFi controllers. Antique controllers can also be as confusing to some users as the rotary phones that were in use when they were installed.
Nothing lasts forever – especially if it’s buried underground.
LANDSCAPE & CONSTRUCTION
Annual soil turning and planting, landscaping, hardscaping, paving, and other property improvements can damage buried irrigation system supply lines. It is a good idea to have your irrigation system flagged by us before digging in planting beds or lawns.
Seasonal landscaping activities or landscape lighting installations can damage irrigation drip and sprinkler water supply lines.
Even simple property improvements can cause damage.
Widening an existing driveway or parking lot can accidentally cover buried sprinkler heads.
Oops!
We all make mistakes, especially when working in difficult conditions. So, not everything is done right the first time – or even the second time – when an irrigation system is installed or repaired - especially when it’s not designed and installed or repaired by us.
Sometimes a loose screw can go unnoticed –
until it’s time to turn the sprinkler on.
until it’s time to turn the sprinkler on.
Installations and repairs can be messy work. Sometimes
dirt, or pebbles find their way into places they shouldn’t be found.
dirt, or pebbles find their way into places they shouldn’t be found.
Tape can be a temporary fix – but not a permanent one.
Poorly made wire connections are don’t work for very long.
Poorly configured rigid piping doesn’t work well for complex supply line joints.
Flexible piping works much better.
Somebody thought this connection arrangement would work. But it didn’t work for long.
TBD…
The cause of a leak – or some other problem - is not always obvious orfindable with state-of-the-art tracking equipment.
Sometimes we just have to take a closer look.