"I would gladly follow the wire...if I could. The best that I can
determine, somebody was drunk as a skunk when they laid out this
system. The systems overlap and the control valves are as far from
their systems as possible. It is the craziest thing I have seen."


Sounds like under a New York City Street.

Personally I prefer a system where all the control valves are in one or two
locations near the main water source then run underground heads as needed
with no valves. i.e Point of Source switching. Point of Use switching whre
the valve is near the zone to be served has the problem that it is hard to
clear the line ahead of the valves for winter or if there is a leak.

For leaks, just cap off all the heads and turn on the water, the leak should
surface under pressure if you are lucky.