How to avoid common sprinkler leaks in San Antonio

A leak on an irrigation system rarely announces itself. It shows up as a soft patch that never dries, a water bill that jumps for no reason, or a zone that has quietly lost pressure.

Most of the leaks we are called out to in San Antonio start in one of three places: a cracked sprinkler head that has been clipped by a mower or a vehicle, a lateral line that has shifted with the clay soil, or a valve that no longer closes fully. None of them are dramatic, and all of them run around the clock until someone notices.

Watch the ground, not just the heads

The clearest early sign is ground that stays wet between waterings. Walk the yard the morning after a cycle and look for standing water, spongy turf, or grass growing noticeably faster in one strip than the rest. A head that sprays sideways, mists rather than throws, or fails to pop up at all is worth reporting on the same call.

Turning the system off when a leak appears

Turning off your sprinkler system from the controller works well when there are no leaks and when your controller is functioning properly. If there is a leak, or your controller is not working, turning off the sprinkler controller will not stop the flow of water to the sprinkler system.

Turning off the water to your sprinkler system involves closing the valves at the point of connection or backflow preventer. All sprinkler systems get their water source from somewhere, and typically this point of connection is in the vicinity of the water meter.

Inside the backflow preventer box are two levers. One lever closes the valve that controls the water coming into the backflow preventer from the water meter, and the other controls the water that leaves the backflow preventer, going to your sprinkler system. It does not matter which valve you close. To close the valve, turn the lever 90 degrees, a quarter turn. Sometimes the levers are old, rusty or even broken off, and that is worth knowing before you need them in a hurry.

Prevention is mostly adjustment

Heads set slightly too high are the ones that get hit. Zones running longer than they need to are the ones that wash soil away from fittings. A seasonal check that resets head height, adjusts arcs off the hardscape and matches run times to the time of year prevents most of what we end up repairing.

If something on your system is behaving oddly, call us on 210-826-6474 and we will tell you honestly whether it needs a visit.