Due to the cold and snowy weather this week we decided to winterize the irrigation systems. Every fall all the water has to be removed from the irrigation systems to prevent ice from forming and damaging critical components. As water freezes it expands and ice is much stronger than plastic pipe. I've even seen ice cause steel pipe to split open. The first step in the process is to shut down the three pump stations, open all the drain valves, and let gravity remove most of the water. Once the water has drained out a large air compressor is connected to the irrigation systems and air is forced through the lines at a high volume, but low pressure. Too much air pressure can damage pipe and irrigation heads the same way high water pressure does. The staff will then split up into several teams and go to every satellite control box to systematically turn on approximately 1,300 irrigation heads to blow out any remaining water. After all the heads are blown out we will go back to the areas that tend to hold water and run through those heads for a second time. It usually takes 4 full days to winterize both irrigation systems.
In addition to the two irrigation systems on the golf courses, the maintenance staff is responsible for winterizing the restroom facility on each nine, along with miscellaneous landscape irrigation and a water line in the driving range building.
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| We rent a 900 cfm air compressor that connects to the irrigation systems through a 2" hose with special fittings. We have to install a pressure regulator on the compressor's discharge line to lower the operating pressure from 150 psi down to 50 psi to prevent damaging the pvc pipe. |
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| Water is pushed out of the irrigation lines by the compressed air and we run the irrigation heads until only mist is coming out. The irrigation heads are manually turned on from the control satellites throughout each course. |
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