Irrigation System Water Pressure Problem

[IT Guy]

I am hooked up to city water in Elk River and more and more often I do not have enough water pressure to pop up the sprinkler heads. Even when I manually pull them up, there is not enough pressure to keep them all the way up. Is there anything I can do about this? When I tried again this morning when no one else was watering and no other water being drawn in the house - still no good. There was also a "howling or whine" coming from the valve control box in the ground. Could it be a bad valve? In some cases the heads are only shooting water 5 feet.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[toughguy]

I think you can get a preasure tank that will store the water and build enough preasure to work your zones. I have never seen one just heard about it a while back. You may want to check with the city and see what they say too.

[IT Guy]

The thing is I already pay the city for water service and the pressure that should come with it. This isn't something I should have to do.

I do have a call into the city - waiting for a call back.

[ScoutII]

How old is the system? Did the system work properly in the past? You may need to add a boaster pump to draw water from the city water main.

[IT Guy]

House is 5 years old. It seems to be worse this year.

[setterguy]

I'm guessing you have a shutoff that isn't all the way open, or you have some kind of obstruction in a line that is causing your poor water pressure.

A very common mistake that I see a lot is not having both shut offs on the backflow preventer open all the way. Many irrigation companies will cock the handles at a 45 degree angle to allow the escape of any droplets of water that may be trapped behind the ball valve.

Is it happening on all zones or just specific numbers?

[hotrod1]

We had a similar problem earller this year with our system...loss of pressure, heads only putting water out half the distance.

We just closed and opened the ball valve at the backflow a couple times and it must of freed up an obstruction or something. Works great now.

[Genofish]

Good point, i have had that happen also.

[MuleShack]

probably a rarity, but i have seen tree roots grow against the under ground pipe and cause it to crease shut reducing flow.

However that would be very rare, and I would also lean toward your BF valve or check the valve in the basement to make sure it is all the way open.

[IT Guy]

Well I got a call back from the city and they told me how to up the water pressure coming into the house. Shower works great now.

However, one sprinkler zone is still no good. Only two heads pop up and they just trickle. The howl or whine still comes from the in-ground control box but only when that zone is running. I am starting to believe that valve is the culprit since all other zone work great.

[311Hemi]

So what did they tell you to do?

[IT Guy]

There is a bell shaped metal housing with a bolt in it on the water line just above the meter where the main water line comes into the house. It is a pressure regulator. You can turn that bolt in or out to increase or decrease the water pressure.