Is your irrigation ready for spring?

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What do you need to do to ensure your irrigation system is ready for the forthcoming warmer weather? Here, irrigation expert John Kidson looks at a list of tasks that should be carried out now.

Seems like only a few weeks we drained down, and now spring is upon us!

Whether you start up your own system, or use an outside contractor for irrigation start-ups, then it’s worth looking at the following checklist to help smooth the wake-up process.

Pre-spring checklist

• Visual check around any water storage for any signs of damage.

• Clear any debris or plant growth from around any pump houses, lakes, tanks and anywhere an irrigation engineer or your own team would require to gain access for the start up.

• Visual inspection of the inside and outside of the pump house.

• Does the pump house only have one key? Now would be a good time to get another one cut.

• Does the lock on the pump house work? Oil the lock and hinges while checking.

• Lighting. Check over any lighting that would be used within the pump house area.

• Access to the irrigation controller would be required.

• Consider testing your cable network before letting water into the system. Knowing you have 30 percent of your irrigation failing early on is far better than in two months’ time!

• Is your hand watering equipment in working order?

• The irrigation toolbox is worth checking over to examine the state of the oil pipe cutters and cable stripper.

• Stock check common items if you undertake your own works such as grease pods, sprinklers per type, coils, solenoid valves and valve boxes.

• Leak repair kits. Consider what spares you have on site to repair the common pipe sizes / types you have.

Once your system is alive and kicking I always recommend running a programme of one minute per station. This depends on your controller and its availability of available programmes. If you’re able to view the stations pop up and down, this is a great test, albeit it takes a while to complete. If you are unable to due to time issues or golf, the key areas, your greens, are worth a pop on and off.

Another method is to set your one minute programme to start for the programme length before you arrive at work, that way if a station sticks, it’s not on all night.
Don’t leave it to the last minute or at least have a date booked in for your startup.

Follow John on social media @JKIrrigation