Irrigation System . . .

Well it was not a valve.  The bane of all irrigation systems are roots.  I suspect a root was the cause of a joint separating.  It is either that or the heavy zero turn lawn mower being used on our yard.  No matter, the problem turned out to be a separated joint.

To begin with the joint was not really a good one but it lasted 10 years.  I had to dig a lot to find the joint.  A first it looked okay but all you had to do was push on the pipe and you could see a clear separation.  Well I had to dig some more to get around the joint.  And I had to remove a tree root that must have been an inch in diameter.  I saw another root under all my plumbing but I was afraid to cut it as there are irrigation wires running all over the place.  Those wires control the valves and run back to the main control box.

Any way the bad joint has been reglued and I used a piece of Cedar wood to make sure the joint would not pull apart.  It would have been major work to replace the valve and redo all the plumbing.  So a repair job is a swifter mending and allows the system to be back into use in this dry time of the years.

The yard is not suffering yet but soon will be.  And then the grass turns brown as it goes dormant.  I do not intend to allow that to happen.

So the repair is in place and I will test it shortly.

I am getting to old to do this kind of work.  Well maybe not, maybe I need more exercise.

Irrigation System . . .

The good old irrigation system has struck again.   We found large areas of the back yard flooded.  I shut the water off at the well.  There is a shut off valve there for that purpose.

Then we went hunting.  The back yard slopes away from the house, so it was an uphill search.  Pretty soon I found the leak.  It was a control valve leaking.  I have bailed it out, and must do it again as there is plenty of water around to seep back into the control valve housing.  No big deal, just got to get the water out and then disassemble the control valve.

And I must clean up the valve, wash the innards out and get rid of the sand.  The sand is not what you would imagine.  It is a very very fine particle, kind of makes the water gritty.  It is basically harmless but the control valves do not like it.  It causes them to do weird things, like leak.  In this case it leaked a lot so I think it really pushed the valve apart.  Water can be very powerful under the right circumstances.

I bailed out the control valve housing but there is so much water in the soil it will seep back into it again.  So I will wait, then bail it out once more, maybe by this afternoon around two or three PM, I can get the valve apart.

Then I have to put it back together again.  Open the shut off valve and see if everything is okay.  It may take two or three times to get the valve tightly closed and working correctly again.  Patience is necessary

I have said it before, irrigation systems are constant maintenance.  Fortunately I am adept at the job and can do the work myself.  That saves time and money and gets the system back running like it should.

Maybe I will invest in a "dirty water" valve which has an internal back flushing capability and washes itself clean.  In other words it is a self cleaning or self flushing valve.  Getting them is no big deal, getting them installed is a big deal requiring more excavation, gluing of joints, etc.  I am not sure I am up to that kind of thing.

All I can say is Geaux Tigers!