The winterization of our irrigation system is underway. We began the process on Tuesday afternoon, and should be finishing by Thursday afternoon. Winterization of the irrigation system involves removing the water from the lines and heads, as well as changing our pump station configuration.
Removing the water from the lines is easier than it sounds. This involves connecting a large air compressor to the piping system and allow the air to push the water out of the lines.
Air compressor used to fill the piping system with air.
This is showing the air compressor hose connected to the piping system.
Once the air compressor is connected, the heads are manually switched on at the satellite boxes to open the heads and allow the air to push the water out. The next two pictures show the water vapor in the air coming out of the irrigation heads.
Most courses power down their pump stations as part of the irrigation system winterization. However, our pump station for the irrigation system also pumps the water for our emergency sprinkler system in our maintenance facility. Shutting off the power to our pump station is not an option for us. We do have a valve that we close to block the water flow in the main line out of the pump station. This allows for all of the lines on the course to have water pushed through them while our pump station is still active and the emergency sprinkler system line is still pressurized. We have a heater in our pump station that keeps the water in the building from being exposed to freezing temperatures.
I use this type of self-watering IRRIGATION FARMING
ReplyDeleteDRIP IRRIGATION FURROW IRRIGATION DRIP IRRIGATION These are nice because you can put it in any existing container. A similar system would be easy to build out of plumbing supplies. I've found that once the reservoir fills up, if you don't quit the container continues to fill until you can see moisture coming up from below. Which isn't a bad thing. You know you've soaked the soil from the bottom up. No more guessing how deeply you watered.