WATER SMARTER, NOT HARDER
Keep your grass green and your water bill low! We’re passionate about improving the performance and efficiency of your underground sprinklers. The spring sprinkler startup service is the best chance to make sure you’re getting the most of your system and your water. Learn more about why this is such an important step, what happens when it's missed, and our unique approach to spring irrigation service.
Spring Service
One time residential spring services start at $235.00 + GST or subscribe annually & save.
Full run through of zones
Timer & Heads reset
Water efficiency consultation
Parts and materials are an additional fee
Prices listed above are based on a 3/4” system
underground sprinkler startup faqs
What is a spring Startup service?
Calgary winters are prone to thawing and freezing, and even if you did a winter sprinkler blowout, issues can arise over those six months of temperature fluctuations. Some of those issues can have a significant impact on your system and aren't always visible to the untrained eye.
For example, sometimes during our spring service, our tests hint at cracks in the mainline or manifold. That’s the pipe that runs from your house into the valve system, and during the summer, it’s fully pressurized. If there were any cracks or pinholes, with water running 24/7 over the summer, you would be looking at an expensive water bill. Cracks or leaks in the manifold also compromise the entire system: Zones can’t spray properly, and that’s going to leave you with yellow, thirsty grass! During a spring startup service, our trained irrigation experts look at your system as a whole to:
Inspect your system
Perform tests to identify any issues that developed over winter
Create a plan to address any issues and make recommendations for products or retrofits that could improve your system’s performance and lower your water bill
Let’s take a closer look at each of these steps below.
What does a spring sprinkler startup involve?
(1) Tests to check for leaks and cracks
This is a critical step to uncover opportunities for minor fixes to save you expensive repairs down the road. In this step, we:
Charge up the mainline of the irrigation system
Check the mainline for leaks and cracks
Manually open each valve to test that all valves are working properly
Test each zone, checking every head, to detect any underground leaks
While significant leaks could be visible, it takes someone with experience to detect small leaks underground that can have a big impact on the efficiency of your system.
(2) Timer tests
Our spring sprinkler startup service also includes tests to make sure your timers are ready to do their job so you can water at the right at the time without lifting a hose!
(3) Identify areas of concern and opportunities to improve performance
As underground irrigation experts with an eye on the latest sprinkler products—which have come a long way even in the last five years—we look for ways to help you maintain your lawn while saving water and money. Here are two great examples of performance upgrades:
App-connected timers let you adjust water use at your fingertips to work with changes in weather, so you're not running your system when it's raining, for example. Having your system Wi-Fi connected also means we can access your system to adjust timers according to rain levels without having to book or charge for an appointment.
High-efficiency nozzles that are 30% or even 90% efficient spray water slowly to make better use of your water and reduce your water bills.
(4) Adjust spray patterns
This is an ideal time to ensure sprinkler heads are spraying in the right patterns and in the right direction. Calgary's freezing/thawing weather causes the ground to shift, and due to this, the heads to move slightly. A small shift can have a significant impact on the direction your heads will spray. In our experience, this freeze/thaw process results in 60 percent of heads requiring adjustment after winter. When your nozzles are facing the right direction and spray in the proper pattern, you water more of the grass and less of the fence or sidewalk.
At Grizzly, we sub-contact to a certified plumber to perform cross-connection testing, which is required in some newer areas of Calgary to demonstrate water isn't back-flowing into and contaminating the water supply.
What’s the best time of year to have a sprinkler startup done?
In Calgary, sprinkler startup service can usually be done in April, and into May and June. It depends on when spring arrives and thaws the ground, but April to June is generally the best time to do irrigation startups.
If you’re one of our subscription members, you pay a discounted, one-time fee per year for your spring service and sprinkler winterization, and you’re on our list for service, so we call you to book it and manage it all for you! As spring approaches, we keep a close eye on the weather and contact all of our subscribers in April so we can arrange to do the service at the optimum time.
What’s the value in having an irrigation sprinkler startup done?
Having your system run at peak efficiency—and free of any cracks or leaks—could easily save you hundreds, even thousands of dollars throughout the summer.
Here’s some quick math: Let us use a 6-station system as an example. Most systems are ¾ inch, running 8 gallons/minute. Six stations run 12 minutes each. Six stations x 8 gallons/minute x 12 minutes = 576 gallons of water per scheduled watering.
Having leaks repaired not only saves you thousands of dollars and thousands of gallons, it also ensures your lawn looks its best all season long.
How much is a spring SPRINKLER startup service and what’s included?
Our underground sprinkler startup service starts at $159.99. You can also take advantage of a complete subscription service package that gives you a discount on both spring sprinkler start up and winter sprinkler blowout service—and you don’t even have to remember to call us!
