Ever heard of the word “irrigation valve”? It would be a shame to have a beautiful place and not understand how your irrigation systems work. The downside is that a lack of understanding of your irrigation system can easily drain your wallet of the cash rather than send water to where it is needed. That’s is exactly why you need to understand a few tricks and know a few hacks you can utilize to ensure that your irrigation is in the best state – irrigation valve

With all the bells and whistles in place on the sprinkler systems recently, it is not unlikely to have a headache simply thinking about your irrigation valves. This need not be, that is exactly why we are here.

An irrigation valve is an integral part of the irrigation system in that it allows the flow of water into the irrigation system. A valve is usually responsible for one area or zone of the entire lawn. The valve has its own electrical components that allows it to carry out its function. The valve also contains a solenoid that receives electric signal from the outside in a bid to control the valve.

The irrigation valve is an autonomous system on its own. The solenoid instructs the diaphragm; which is a rubber plug in the valve to open or close depending on the signal received from the central control box. When open, the valve allows for the passage of water while water is restricted when the diaphragm is closed.

While there are manual controlled valves, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find them. This is because the electrically controlled valves are more convenient and easier to use. The irrigation valve is just one of the different valves present in the entire irrigation system.

A normal functioning is either open or close, there are no two ways to that. When open, water can be dispensed, when closed, water is restricted from passing through. However, when damaged, it is not unlikely to find valves that remain half open and that allows for the leakage of water.

How can you prevent your valve from going bad?

Double check

You can’t easily conclude that your irrigation valve is bad, it could just be that you have not turned the valve on. The first step to approaching any irrigation emergency is to double check, you can never be too careful.

Clear contamination

Since water continuously flows through the valve, the valve is suspect to contamination by particles suspended in the water itself. You can avoid damage to your irrigation valve by clearing the valve ever so often. This will allow your valve allow for free flow of water and you can be sure that the valves will last longer.

Follow due process

Some activities like irrigation winterization in regions with long winter can also adversely affect your irrigation valve. Ensure you follow the high volume, low pressure rule when air compressing your water irrigation system. That way you can ensure that the irrigation components last longer.

Now that you have found ways to make your valves last even longer, you can save up on repair costs.