IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE
36 SportsTurf | December 2016 www.sportsturfonline.com
GETTING READY FOR SPRING STARTUP
Boettcher said just like during fall shutdown, in the spring, he
relies on an outside company to fi re up the system.
"The benefi ts of hiring an irrigation company is that they
know the intricacies of an irrigation system and can diagnose
any issues that could be starting," Boettcher explained. "They
are trained professionals and having their trained eye look at
our system is always great at the start of the year." It also makes
the process more effi cient, he added.
A fi rst visual inspection of the entire landscape system lets
the company assess potential issues.
"Ninety-nine percent of the time, the system is ok after
visual inspection, except for occasional head damage from the
snowplows or from construction," Boettcher said.
This is also the time to address issues that were already noted
during their preliminary inspection in the fall.
"When we blow out the system, we look at the heads, and
if there is little damage on seals of heads or nozzles, we make
note of it. It's not necessary to fi x those issues before winter,"
he said.
After the visual inspection of the landscape system, it's time
to begin fi lling the mainline. Boettcher said that he typically
goes to the clock to fi re up the system at the furthest zone from
the water source. Slowly fi lling the system is key to allow all
of the air in the pipes to evacuate through the quick coupling
valves or sprinklers.
"Once the water is in the landscape system, we know
the pipes are purged," he said. He then starts fi ring up the
individual zones and checks that the heads at the zones work as
well, an area comprising 45 zones and some 500 heads total.
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