Much like a car or the exterior of a house, your irrigation system will require regular maintenance to prevent a disaster or dead grass before it happens.
One of the most neglected parts of any sprinklers is going to be the head. Although a simple piece of the system in comparison to the rest of the machine, your sprinkler heads will age, decay and break and need to be replaced with time.
The question to ask yourself is, “are my sprinkler heads too old?”
How to check if your sprinkler heads are too old
Here’s a few things you can to check if they are:
- Is the head clogged?
If the head isn’t shooting out any water- it’s a pretty good sign it’s time for a new one. If the head is clogged- either with dirt, rust or any other yard residue that might stop water from coming out- it needs to come out. Sometimes cleaning the head out- especially if the clog is something small like grass clippings- can prolong the head’s life, but other times it might permanently damage the head, which means it’s time to replace the sprinkler head.
Is the head shooting water irregularly?
If the head is either shooting too much or too little water, or especially if the head is regularly leaking, there’s a good chance it’s damaged beyond repair. A leak caused by the natural decay of the parts is a pretty good sign that it’s time for a new sprinkler head.
Does the head look displaced?
Unfortunately, sprinkler heads aren’t immune to foot traffic on your lawn or the damage that maintenance tools like lawn mowers and weed whackers can cause. If the head looks bent out of shape or contorted in a way where it’s not spraying water onto your property as intended, it may have been damaged by a lawn mower or something of the like and it’s more than likely time to replace that sprinkler head.
Luckily though, repairing a sprinkler heads can be a quick, simple and cheap do-it-yourself fix with just a little research beforehand. As far as irrigation maintenance goes, it’s by far one of the easiest repairs you can do.
Of course, to make sure your future irrigation system won’t have regular issues with your sprinkler heads, make sure to get your installation done by an experienced and reputable company that will get the job done right.
