In ground sprinkler draining problem

[TH]

I just moved into a house with an in ground sprinkler connected to an irrigation well. The problem I am having, is that after a water cycle the water in the pipes slowly leak out of one of the sprinkler heads. The sprinkler, I assume, is at the lowest point and near the street. Because of this I always have a puddle around this sprinkler and water running down the sidewalk after the watering cycle. Is there some kind of check valve I could install to keep this from happening, or some other solution?

Thanks in advance, Tom

[willshak]

on 8/10/2007 6:21 PM TH said the following:

If it's a pop up head, how about a little weight on it? Enough to keep the water running out from gravity, but enough to open under pressure.

[Bob F]

Add a drain valve to the line near that sprinkler. It would be buried, to drain the water underground. These are valves that allow water to pass until the pressure gets high enough, then they close, allowing the sprinklers to get the water. Dig a hole under the valve, and fill it with gravel to give the water a place to go.

Bob

[TH]

Sounds like a plan! Thanks. Tom

[Mikepier]

Do you have solenoid valves hooked up to these sprinklers, or just direct from the well? If you have solenoid valves, it sounds like it's not closing completely. Opening it up and cleaning it out usually cures the problem. If it's hooked up directly from a well, try this test. If you have a shut off valve between the well and sprinkler line, turn the valve off. If the leak stops, then somehow water is siphoning by itself from the well to the sprinkler line. You coud install a solenoid valve after the well to solve this problem, but then you will need some kind of relay and transformer to turn the valve on at the same time the well comes on. If you don't have a shut off valve after the well, try to find an alternative way to shut off the supply to the sprinklers. Thats really the only way to know where the problem is coming from.