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RicodJour RicodJour is offline
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Default Sprinkler system low water pressure

On Jul 13, 8:58 pm, Senin wrote:
My automatic outdoor water sprinkler system suddenly has low to no
water pressure. It just came on. Some times it works fine, others it
has low pressure. Any ideas on what could cause that?


Sprinkler systems need both sufficient pressure and sufficient flow
volume. One or the other might not be up to the task.

It's entirely possible that it is a neighborhood problem (assuming you
don't run the sprinkler off of a well) - ask around. It is also
possible that you have a leak or diminished capacity water main. If
your house is older and the water main is galvanized, the inside may
be partially blocked - galvanizing doesn't last forever and it rusts
from the inside out. That would lower your flow volume considerably.
Test it by filling a 2 1/2 gallon bucket at different times of the day
and night. Time how long it takes to fill the bucket.

You need to get a water pressure gauge, ~$10, and hook it up to a hose
bib and take repeated reading throughout the day and night. Check the
pressure with nothing at all running, then turn on the sprinkler zones
one at a time and see what the water pressure is at the hose bib. You
should see the pressure drop as you turn on each zone, then the
pressure should build back up as the heads pop up. It should
stabilize at a pressure of at least 30 PSI - that's a fairly typical
minimum pressure for correct operation. If you see one zone has lower
pressure, you may have a leak.

I suspect it is a combination of problems.

R