If you live in Colorado Springs and you care about your lawn at all, then yes, you need to winterize your sprinkler system every year. The ground here freezes hard, and if water stays in your lines or backflow, it will expand, crack pipes, and cost far more than a careful [Colorado Springs sprinkler winterization] service. That is the short answer. The longer answer, which I think is more interesting if you like tech, is how you can treat your sprinkler system a bit like a small home network or a machine that needs a proper shutdown routine.
Why Colorado Springs is rough on sprinkler systems
Colorado Springs is not gentle on plumbing. The swings in temperature are sharp. It can be warm in the afternoon and below freezing that same night. You know this already if you have ever walked outside in a t‑shirt at 3 pm and needed a jacket at 7.
Sprinkler systems do not handle surprise freezes well. The pipes are usually shallow, the backflow preventer is exposed, and there is trapped water in all the little parts your eye does not see. So if you leave the system as it is, the water inside tries to turn into ice, wants more space, and something breaks. Usually at the worst time.
The main goal of winterization is simple: get as much water out of the system as you can before hard freeze hits.
For people who like tech, you can think of it like clearing volatile memory before shutdown. The fewer leftovers, the lower the chance of a weird crash later. Not a perfect match, but close enough.
How a sprinkler system actually works (in plain terms)
You do not need to become a plumber, but it helps to know the pieces. It makes winterizing feel less like guesswork and more like a clean process.
| Component | What it does | Why it matters for winterization |
|---|---|---|
| Main shutoff valve | Controls water going from house line into sprinkler system | You close this so new water does not refill drained lines |
| Backflow preventer | Stops sprinkler water from going back into drinking water | Can crack if water inside freezes, often the most fragile part |
| Zone valves (manifold) | Open and close to let water into different yard zones | Need to be open during blowout so air can push water out |
| PVC or poly pipes | Carry water underground to each head | Hold a lot of water; trapped water expands and breaks them |
| Sprinkler heads | Spray or rotate water on the lawn | Collect water in small pockets that can freeze and crack |
| Controller (timer or smart controller) | Tells valves when to open and close | Needs a “winter mode” or to be powered down so it does not run dry |
Once you see it laid out like this, winterization is just a series of simple steps on these pieces. Shut off, drain, blow out, then park the controller in a safe state.
The three basic winterization methods
You will run into three main approaches. Each has pros and cons. I think tech people usually like knowing the tradeoffs, not just a rule.
1. Manual drain
Some systems have manual drain valves at low points or on each zone. You close the main water, open those valves, and let gravity pull water out.
- Cheap, no special tools
- Works better on systems that were designed with enough drain points
- Still leaves pockets of water in some heads and elbows
In Colorado Springs, manual drain alone often feels like trying to back up your server by copying a few folders you remember and hoping for the best. It might be fine. Or not.
2. Automatic drain valves
Some newer systems have small valves that open when pressure drops and let water out on their own.
- Less work for you once installed
- These small parts can fail or clog over time
- Again, they do not always clear everything
Automatic drains are nice, but they still do not fix the water sitting inside a backflow or high points in lines.
3. Air blowout
This is the method most pros use here. After shutting off the water, you use an air compressor to push air through each zone until mostly air comes out of the heads.
- Most thorough method for our climate
- Faster for big yards
- Can damage parts if pressure is too high or used wrong
For Colorado Springs, an air blowout is usually the safest long term approach for a full system, especially if you have a lot of zones or a more complex layout.
Think of it as running a cleaning script with safe settings, not a hacky “rm -rf” on random folders. You want controlled pressure, not brute force.
What “smart” winterization means for tech people
Smart here does not just mean smart controller or an app. It also means treating winterization like any other recurring system task. You plan it, you automate what you can, you log what you did, and you reduce surprises next spring.
Plan it like a maintenance window
Winter in Colorado Springs can hit fast. So you do not wait for the forecast to scream “record low.” You schedule your winterization just like you would schedule a change window.
- Target: mid to late October, sometimes earlier if the season turns cold
- Set a calendar reminder each year
- Add a second reminder as backup a week later
You might think this is overkill. Then one year you forget, and a surprise cold snap costs you a broken backflow and some pipe repair, and it suddenly feels quite reasonable.
Use your smart controller features
If you already use a smart irrigation controller, you can let it help you instead of just running schedules.
Some simple ideas:
- Create a “Winterization” program that runs all zones briefly on the last day before shutdown, just to clear any stagnant water.
- Label each zone clearly in the app: “Front north”, “Back drip”, “Side beds”, and so on.
- During blowout, step through each zone from the app while you stand outside and watch what happens.
- Take photos in the app or in a note of heads that look weak, blocked, or misaligned.
Your controller is already a map of your system. Using it during winterization turns a boring task into a full system health check.
This also makes it easier to spot patterns. If zone 4 always drains slowly or spits muddy water, you can keep an eye on it in spring for leaks.
Step by step: a tech friendly winterization flow
You can think of the whole thing as a basic script. Except you are the CPU and air compressor replaces some commands.
1. Prep and safety checks
Before you connect anything, check where your system parts are:
- Find the main sprinkler shutoff valve, often in the basement or a crawl space.
- Locate the backflow preventer, usually outside near where the water line exits the house.
- Find your blowout port, if you have one. It may be near the backflow or the main line.
Confirm your compressor specs. Consumer units are often enough, but the point is not constant high PSI. It is volume over time, within safe limits.
| Parameter | Typical target | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure (PSI) | 50 to 60 PSI for many residential systems | Check system rating; avoid going near 80 PSI on PVC |
| Air volume (CFM) | At least 4 to 6 CFM | More volume clears zones faster, less waiting |
| Run time per zone | Short pulses, 1 to 3 minutes each | Let the compressor rest, do cycles, not one long blast |
I know some guides online brag about 90 PSI runs. That might work once or twice, but it starts to feel like overclocking without checking thermals. Over time, something gives.
2. Shut off the water correctly
Turn off the main supply to the sprinkler line. On many setups, this is a ball valve near the point where the pipe branches from your house line.
- Rotate the shutoff valve so it is perpendicular to the pipe.
- If there is a small drain near it, open that to vent remaining water between house and backflow.
- Go outside and switch the backflow valves to a 45 degree position so water and air can move out.
This small angle on the backflow valves helps them clear water without keeping them fully open or fully closed for months.
3. Connect the compressor
You usually have one of three situations:
- A dedicated blowout port with a threaded cap.
- A test cock on the backflow you can attach to.
- No good connection point at all, which means it might be time to let a pro install one.
Use a proper adapter from your compressor hose to the blowout port. Open the port valve slowly, turn on the compressor, let it build pressure, then open the first zone from your controller or the manual valve lever.
If you feel tempted to rush and crank everything wide open, do the opposite. Go slow. Watch and listen for what the system is telling you.
4. Clear each zone one by one
With the first zone open, you should see water start to push out of the sprinkler heads, then a mix of water and air, then mostly air with mist.
Common pattern:
- Run air until you mostly see mist and hear a light hiss.
- Stop airflow for a short break.
- Repeat a couple of times, but avoid overdoing it for long periods.
Then switch to the next zone and repeat. Some people like to keep looping through zones until all are mostly spitting air. Some run each only once. I think looping once or twice works better, especially for longer lines.
You might see that one head lags behind the others on a zone. That can point to a low spot or partial blockage. Make a mental note or better, write it down somewhere. Your future self in spring will be happy you did.
5. Deal with special cases: drip zones and side lines
Drip irrigation zones are different. They often do not like compressed air. Emitters can pop, tubing can move, and it becomes a mess.
For drip zones, many people:
- Shut them off separately.
- Open manual drains or caps at the end of the lines.
- Let gravity do the job, or use very low air pressure for a short time.
Side taps for garden hoses or small branch lines might have water sitting in them as well. You may need to disconnect hoses, tilt them to drain, and open any little caps or drains you find near them.
6. Park the controller in a safe state
Once air flow is done and you are satisfied that each zone is as clear as you can reasonably get it, you still have the controller active. Leaving it on full schedules all winter is not useful.
For older wall timers:
- Switch to “Off” or “Rain” mode.
- Some people unplug them, but then you often lose time and date, which is annoying.
For smart controllers:
- Create a “Winter” or “Disabled” profile.
- Turn off all schedules, but keep Wi‑Fi and power so firmware updates and time sync still happen.
- Add a note in the app that the system is winterized, with the date.
This is a nice place where tech habits shine. Treat it like putting a system into maintenance mode, not just flipping random switches.
How to monitor and log your sprinkler system like a tech project
You probably track your hardware, your passwords, and your home network gear. Your sprinkler system can live in that same mental inventory.
Make a simple system diagram
This does not need to be fancy CAD work. A quick sketch on a tablet or even paper helps a lot:
- Draw your house outline.
- Mark the mainline path, valves, and zones.
- Note where the backflow is and where the blowout port sits.
Then save a photo of that sketch into a shared note app with a name like “Sprinkler layout.” From there, each year you can update it if you add zones or move heads.
Keep a yearly winterization log
A short log goes a long way. Something like:
- Date you winterized.
- Method used, such as “compressor at 55 PSI, cycled zones twice.”
- Any odd behavior, weak zones, or strange noises.
- Repairs you noticed you will want in spring.
Over a few years, a simple text log becomes a history of your system and saves you from guessing when a problem first showed up.
This also helps if you ever hand the work off to a local company. You can send them that log and skip half the small talk.
Using sensors and smart tech to help winterization
If you already use smart home devices, you can tie some of them into your sprinkler habits. It is not required. It is just practical.
Soil moisture and weather data
Some tech minded homeowners like to use:
- Soil moisture sensors in key zones.
- Weather station data from their yard.
Those readings do not change how you blow out lines, but they do affect when you decide to shut down for the year. If soil moisture stays high and daytime temps are dropping, you might decide to winterize earlier than last year because you are not depending on the system for late watering.
Home automation reminders
A few simple automations:
- Calendar event each fall tagged as “Sprinkler winterization week”.
- A smart speaker reminder if the first hard freeze warning appears in your area.
- An automation that sets your sprinkler controller to a “Final week” schedule before full shutdown.
This is more about reducing cognitive load than being fancy. You only winterize once per year, so it is easy to forget the details. Let your tools help you remember.
Common mistakes people make with sprinkler winterization
Here are a few patterns that keep coming up, especially among people who think “It looks fine, I will risk it this year.”
Waiting too long in the season
Every year, someone decides to squeeze in a couple more green weeks and then gets caught by an early cold snap. They then try to blow out lines when parts are already frozen, which is not ideal.
A better habit: aim a bit earlier than you think you need. A slightly dry lawn in late fall costs less than a cracked backflow and trench work in spring.
Using way too much pressure
Some people plug in a large shop compressor, set pressure to the max, and hope that more PSI equals faster work. Higher numbers do not mean better in this case.
What usually goes wrong:
- Sprinkler heads pop off or crack.
- Fittings weaken and start leaking later.
- Backflow parts fail from internal stress.
More volume at safe pressure is the better tradeoff. That is true for airflow and honestly, many other things.
Forgetting hidden sections of the system
Side taps, forgotten drip runs, or small valves that feed garden areas sometimes escape attention. Water sits all winter, freezes, and you find out in April when you see an odd wet patch.
Try walking the yard right after you blow out zones. Look for any area you expected to see water or mist and did not. That often reveals a forgotten branch.
When to hand winterization over to a pro
Not every tech person wants to DIY everything. That is fair. Debugging a sprinkler line with a shovel in frozen ground is not as fun as debugging a script from your couch.
You might want a professional to handle winterization if:
- Your system has more than 8 to 10 zones and feels like a maze.
- You do not own a proper compressor and do not want to rent one yearly.
- Your backflow location or blowout port seems awkward or unsafe to reach.
- You had breaks in the past and do not want to risk more.
There is no trophy for doing it all yourself. Think of it like managed hosting for one part of your yard. You still keep the high level view but let someone else handle the cold, noisy part.
What spring looks like if winterization went poorly
You might be reading this late and thinking, “I skipped winterization last year and things looked fine.” Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes the damage is quiet.
Common spring symptoms of bad or missing winterization:
- Backflow preventer leaking or spraying when you turn the system back on.
- Zones that do not pressurize fully or never come on.
- Visible water pooling in random parts of the yard.
- Unusually high water bill once you start watering.
In tech terms, this is like running a file system dirty for a while. It might work until one day it does not. At that point, you pay in time and money to get back to normal.
Quick Q & A for tech minded homeowners
Q: Can I automate winterization completely with smart tech?
A: Not really. You can automate reminders, final watering cycles, and controller shutdown, but blowing out lines still needs a human with a compressor. There are some advanced systems that self drain more fully, but they are not common in typical Colorado Springs homes yet.
Q: Is a small portable compressor enough for a full system?
A: Sometimes. It depends on your zone length and your patience. A small unit with low CFM can still clear lines if you accept shorter runs and more cycles per zone. It might take longer than hiring someone with a large tow‑behind compressor, but it can work if you keep pressures safe.
Q: Do I need to protect my backflow with insulation after winterization?
A: It helps. Even with water blown out, you may have tiny pockets left. A simple insulated cover reduces risk. Just avoid wrapping it so tight that moisture gets trapped for months. Think of it like a light jacket, not bubble wrap.
Q: Is skipping one year of winterization ever safe?
A: You can get away with it in a mild winter or if your system is unusually deep and protected, but Colorado Springs does not have gentle winters every time. If you test your luck and it fails, the repair cost usually makes you wish you had just done the work or paid someone to do it.
Q: How early is too early to winterize?
A: If you shut down in late September, you might have a slightly drier lawn before snowfall. That is not the end of the world. Grass can tolerate this more easily than cracked plumbing. Many people prefer early October to balance the risk, but if you tend to forget things, earlier might be safer for you personally.
Q: Is blowing out twice in one season useful?
A: Some homeowners who are cautious run an early blowout, then if a surprise warm stretch hits and they briefly turn the water back on, they run a second, shorter blowout. If you do that, log both dates. It is a bit like patching twice. Redundant, maybe, but if it matches your risk level, it is not a bad habit.
Q: How do I know if I did a “good enough” job?
A: There is no perfect metric, but if each zone ran until it was mostly air, the backflow and lines drained, and you used safe pressure, you have likely done what most pros aim for. The real test is the next spring. If all zones pressurize cleanly and you do not see weird leaks, your winterization process is working.