Although Vancouver Island is not subject to the extremely cold winter weather common to most of Canada, it is still a good idea to winterize your irrigation connections. All our new homes in the Trumpeter Pointe subdivision come with installed sprinkler systems. We supply home maintenance manuals for all new home buyers, and our installers contact each new home owner with shut off instructions.
For those residential building lot purchasers who have built their own new custom homes, however, we hope this information will be useful if you have installed a sprinkler system.
A shut off valve for hose bibs (garden hose connections) is normally located inside the home, usually in the furnace room. To drain the lines before winter, turn off the inside shut off valve then open the exterior valve. This will prevent freezing and possible bursting of exterior piping in the winter. Once the threat of freezing is over in the spring, simply close the exterior valve, and turn on the inside shut off valve.
Some hose bibs are "frost free" with a long stem connected to the valve so the water can be shut off inside the wall. The outer portion of the piping then drains freely.
Garden hoses should never be left connected to the hose bib during freezing weather as neither the hose nor hose bib can drain. Ice forming in a connected hose due to undrained water can cause supply pipe freezing, and breakage of the hose or hose bib.
