Sprinkler System Maintenance: Seasonal Checklist & Tips

Keeping your lawn green and healthy, especially in a place like West Texas, depends heavily on a well functioning irrigation system. But a sprinkler system is not a set it and forget it appliance. Regular sprinkler system maintenance is the key to conserving water, saving money, and ensuring your landscape thrives. This guide breaks down everything you need to know, from simple monthly check ups to seasonal preparations, so you can tackle DIY upkeep or know when to call a pro.

The Annual Cycle of Sprinkler Care

Effective sprinkler system maintenance follows a rhythm throughout the year. Understanding this cycle helps you stay ahead of problems and prepare your system for the demands of each season.

Pre Season Inspection (Spring Start Up)

Before you kick off the main watering season, a pre season inspection is essential. This spring tune up involves carefully turning the water back on and checking for any damage that occurred over the winter.

The EPA’s WaterSense program suggests a simple four step spruce up: Inspect, Connect, Direct, and Select. You’ll want to check for clogged or broken heads, ensure all connections are tight to prevent leaks, direct sprays to water the lawn instead of the driveway, and select an appropriate watering schedule for the mild spring weather. A key step is to slowly open the main valve to prevent a pressure surge that could damage fittings. This initial check is when you’ll spot freeze damage, like a cracked pipe bubbling up water, which should be fixed immediately. As part of spring start‑up, many properties also require annual backflow testing and certification to stay compliant and protect your drinking water.

Monthly Inspection

Once your system is up and running, a quick monthly inspection can prevent small issues from becoming big headaches. The process is simple: turn on each zone and walk through your property. Look for common problems like broken heads, sprinklers spraying the house, or small puddles that could signal a leak. Catching these problems early can cut outdoor water use by 20 to 30 percent. A single broken head can waste up to 25,000 gallons of water in a six month season, so a few minutes of inspection can pay off significantly.

Winterization (Drain and Blowout)

In any climate with freezing temperatures, winterization is the most critical part of sprinkler system maintenance. When water freezes, it expands by about 9 percent, which is enough force to crack PVC pipes, valves, and sprinkler heads. The best way to prevent this is a “blowout,” where a professional uses a large air compressor to force all the water out of the lines, zone by zone. While some systems have drains, a blowout is the most thorough method. This is a task many homeowners wisely leave to professionals, as using the wrong equipment or too much pressure can damage the system. If you’re in the Lubbock area, it’s a good idea to schedule a professional winterization with M&M Sprinklers to avoid costly repairs come springtime.

Core Sprinkler System Maintenance Tasks

Beyond the seasonal cycle, several hands on tasks form the backbone of good sprinkler care. Regularly performing these checks will keep your system running efficiently all year long.

Inspecting Sprinkler Heads

A monthly walk through should include a close look at every sprinkler head. You’re looking for three main things: clogs, leaks, and misalignment.

• Clogs: A clogged head might have a weak, uneven spray or not pop up at all. This is a common cause of brown spots in an otherwise green lawn.

• Leaks: Look for water pooling around the base of a sprinkler when the system is running or a constant damp spot when it’s off. A leak as small as the tip of a pen can waste around 6,300 gallons of water per month.

• Misalignment: Heads should sit vertically. A tilted head will distort the spray pattern, watering the ground directly in front of it or overshooting onto the sidewalk.

Cleaning Sprinkler Heads and Filters

If you spot a clogged head, the fix is often simple. Most pop up sprinklers have a small filter screen located just under the nozzle. You can unscrew the nozzle, pull out the filter, and rinse both parts to remove dirt and sediment. This simple act restores the proper spray pattern and can revive a dry patch of lawn. For drip systems, cleaning the main filter is even more critical. It’s a good practice to clean drip system filters monthly during the watering season to prevent tiny emitters from getting blocked.

Adjusting Sprinkler Head Alignment, Arc, and Radius

Properly aimed sprinklers save a surprising amount of water. The goal is to water the plants, not the pavement. Adjusting a head involves three things:

1. Alignment: The direction the head is pointing.

2. Arc: The side to side rotation of the spray (e.g., 90 degrees for a corner, 180 for an edge).

3. Radius: The distance the water travels.

Most adjustments can be made with a small screwdriver or a special rotor tool. Correctly aimed heads not only prevent water waste but also protect your house, windows, and foundation from hard water stains and potential damage.

Leveling and Raising Sunken Sprinkler Heads

Over time, soil settles and sprinkler heads can sink below ground level. When a head is too low, grass and dirt block the spray, leading to poor coverage and dry spots. A sunken head is also more likely to be damaged by a lawn mower. The fix involves digging a small area around the head, raising it to be flush with the soil, and packing dirt underneath to hold it in place. Sometimes a simple riser extender is needed to get it to the right height.

System Wide Health and Efficiency

Beyond individual heads, maintaining the entire system’s infrastructure is crucial for performance and water conservation.

Flushing Valves and Lines

At the start of the season or after a repair, it’s important to flush your irrigation lines. This involves opening the end of a line (by removing the last head or an end cap) and letting water rush through to clear out any dirt, sand, or PVC shavings that have collected. A seasonal flush of each zone is a great maintenance step to prevent sediment from reaching and clogging your sprinkler nozzles.

Leak Detection and Repair

Leaks are a silent drain on your wallet and a major source of water waste. Obvious signs include soggy patches in the yard or a geyser from a broken pipe. A more subtle clue is a water meter that spins even when all the water in your house is off. Pinpointing underground leaks can be tricky, sometimes requiring careful digging or specialized electronic equipment. Because a single small leak can waste thousands of gallons, it’s a problem to address immediately. If you suspect a leak you can’t find, the expert team at M&M Sprinklers can provide professional irrigation leak detection and repairs.

Checking and Regulating Water Pressure

Water pressure is a frequently overlooked aspect of sprinkler system maintenance. If the pressure is too high (often above 30 psi for spray heads), water atomizes into a fine mist that blows away and evaporates instead of soaking into the soil. If it’s too low, heads won’t pop up or spray far enough. You can spot high pressure if you see “mist clouds” over your sprinklers. Installing pressure regulating sprinkler heads can solve this problem and save an average home about 5,600 gallons of water per year.

Ensuring Head to Head Coverage and Uniformity

“Head to head coverage” is a design principle where each sprinkler’s spray reaches the next sprinkler head. This overlap is critical for ensuring every part of your lawn gets an equal amount of water, a concept known as uniformity. Without it, you get dry spots between sprinklers. You can test your system’s uniformity with a catch can test: place several identical containers (like tuna cans) around a zone, run the sprinklers for 15 minutes, and measure the water in each. If the amounts are wildly different, adjustments are needed to achieve uniform coverage. And if gaps persist due to an outdated layout, consider a sprinkler system redesign or new installation.

The Brains of the Operation: Controller and Sensors

The automated components of your system need regular attention to ensure they are working for you, not against you.

Checking the Controller, Battery, and Wiring

Your irrigation controller is the system’s brain. A common mistake is letting the 9 volt backup battery die. This battery saves your programming during a power outage; without it, the controller can revert to a default schedule that overwaters. It’s recommended to replace the battery annually. You should also check the wiring connections for corrosion and ensure any sensors are properly connected.

Installing a Rain or Frost Sensor

A rain sensor is a simple device that automatically tells your controller not to water when it has recently rained. A frost sensor does the same when temperatures approach freezing, preventing icy and hazardous sidewalks. Not only does this save water, but in many places like Texas, rain or freeze sensors are required on new systems. Adding one is a smart, water saving upgrade for any system.

Setting and Seasonally Adjusting the Controller Schedule

Perhaps the biggest mistake homeowners make is setting their controller once in the summer and never changing it. Your lawn’s water needs are much lower in the spring and fall. Most controllers have a “seasonal adjust” feature that lets you reduce run times by a percentage (e.g., 50% in spring, 100% in summer, 60% in fall). Adjusting your controller schedule with the seasons is one of the most effective ways to prevent water waste.

Optimizing Your Watering Strategy

A healthy lawn starts with a smart watering plan tailored to your specific landscape.

Scheduling Watering by Grass Type, Soil, and Weather

A one size fits all watering schedule doesn’t work. The right schedule depends on three factors:

• Grass Type: Warm season grasses like Bermuda often need less frequent watering than cool season grasses like Fescue.

• Soil Type: Sandy soil drains quickly and needs more frequent, shorter watering. Clay soil holds water longer and benefits from less frequent, deeper watering.

• Weather: Hot, windy days increase water needs, while cool, humid days reduce them.

Observing Lawn Stress Indicators

Your lawn will tell you when it’s thirsty. The easiest way to check is the “footprint test.” Walk across the grass; if it springs right back, it’s well hydrated. If your footprints linger, it’s a sign of drought stress and time to water. Other signs include a dull, bluish gray color or folded grass blades. Watching for these indicators helps you water when your lawn actually needs it.

Measuring Irrigation Output and Calibrating

To stop guessing how long to run your sprinklers, you can calibrate your system. The catch can test mentioned earlier not only checks uniformity but also tells you your system’s application rate in inches per hour. Most lawns need about 1 inch of water per week. If your test shows your system delivers half an inch in 30 minutes, you know you need to run it for a total of 60 minutes per week to apply that one inch.

Don’t Forget Drip Systems

Drip irrigation is highly efficient, but it requires its own specific maintenance. The main task is preventing clogs in the small emitters. This involves cleaning the main line filter monthly and flushing the drip lines a few times per season to wash out sediment. You should also walk the lines periodically to check for leaks or damage from animals.

A Quick Sprinkler System Maintenance Checklist

Feeling overwhelmed? Use this simple checklist to guide your routine sprinkler system maintenance.

• Monthly: Run each zone and visually inspect all heads for clogs, leaks, and proper alignment.

• Monthly: Check for soggy spots or dry patches in the lawn.

• Seasonally (Spring): Perform a full pre season inspection. Slowly turn on water, check for leaks, clean filters, and adjust all heads.

• Seasonally (Spring/Fall): Adjust your controller schedule to match the weather, reducing watering times in cooler months.

• Annually: Replace the backup battery in your controller.

• Annually (Fall): Winterize your system before the first hard freeze to prevent costly damage.

Following a consistent sprinkler system maintenance plan is the best way to ensure a beautiful lawn while being a responsible water user. For tasks that feel too complex or time consuming, don’t hesitate to seek professional help. A company like M&M Sprinklers can provide expert tune ups, repairs, and seasonal services to keep your system in peak condition. Meet our licensed irrigators and certified arborists.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How often should I perform sprinkler system maintenance? You should do a quick visual inspection monthly during the watering season. A more thorough tune up, including cleaning filters and adjusting heads, should be done at least once a year during your spring start up.

2. What are the most common signs my sprinkler system needs maintenance? Common signs include brown or dry spots in the lawn, puddles or soggy areas, sprinkler heads that don’t pop up or retract, and a sudden increase in your water bill.

3. Can I do sprinkler system maintenance myself? Many tasks, like cleaning nozzles, adjusting spray patterns, and programming the controller, are very DIY friendly. More complex jobs like repairing underground leaks, fixing electrical issues, or winterizing with an air compressor are often best left to a professional.

4. How much water can a well maintained sprinkler system save? Regular sprinkler system maintenance can have a huge impact. Simple fixes like repairing leaks and adjusting heads can reduce outdoor water use by 20 to 30 percent. Upgrades like pressure regulating heads can save thousands of gallons per year.

5. What is included in a professional sprinkler system maintenance service? A professional service typically includes a comprehensive check of all components. A technician will run every zone, inspect and adjust all heads, clean nozzles and filters, check for leaks, test the controller and sensors, and program an efficient, seasonally appropriate watering schedule. If you want peace of mind, consider scheduling a system wellness check with M&M Sprinklers.