Sprinkler Main and Drains

The backflow prevention valve is essential for isolating the water supply between your sprinkler system and your home. Without this valve, there would be no way to control the water supply to your sprinkler system without impacting the main water supply to your home. If this valve malfunctions, it can lead to leaks year-round, whether the valve is open or closed, complicating your sprinkler maintenance and potentially affecting the function of both the main and drain valves.

When you blow out your sprinkler system, you typically blow air from the front side of your backflow preventer into the network of sprinkler pipe. This process leaves water inside the backflow preventer all the way to the main valve buried underground. To prevent this water from freezing and causing damage during sprinkler maintenance, the drain valve is opened to drain the water. This highlights the importance of both the drain valve and backflow prevention; if the drain valve is faulty, it will leak only when the main valve is open.

We only use "curb stop" style brass ball valves with a lifespan exceeding 25 years, which are the same valves your municipality relies on for their backflow prevention in water meters. In contrast, typical main and drain valves are often installed with much cheaper cross top style valves, which have an average lifespan of only 5-10 years. These lower-quality valves are particularly vulnerable to damage from over-tightening and poor winterization, leading to potential issues during sprinkler maintenance.

The valves we install require a specific style key for operation, and we provide this key every time we rebuild a main and drain system. In fact, 90% of the time we perform a rebuild on main and drain valves, it’s due to a valve failure that is causing leaks, incurring unnecessary costs, and risking damage to other components.

We only use 100% no-lead brass fittings to build our main and drain valves. Typically, standard main and drain installations are constructed with either all galvanized steel fittings or a mix of galvanized and brass. In both scenarios, the lifespan of your main and drain valves is significantly reduced.

Galvanized steel has only a quarter of the lifespan of brass, and combining galvanized steel and brass can lead to rapid corrosion due to a phenomenon known as electrolysis when these two metals come into contact. We only utilize galvanized fittings on the backflow preventer and always run polyethylene pipe between the brass and galvanized fittings to prevent electrolysis. The remaining 10% of the time we rebuild main and drain valves is due to corroded fittings or pipes that are causing leaks, which emphasizes the importance of proper sprinkler maintenance.

Most main and drain valves are installed with a small 4-inch piece of riser pipe over each valve, which makes it challenging to see the valves at the bottom of the pipe. Due to this low visibility, you often need to use a flashlight just to maneuver your key onto the valves. 

In our approach to backflow prevention, we utilize a single 10-inch piece of pipe along with a decorative green valve box that surrounds both main and drain valves. This design not only enhances visibility but also facilitates easier access for sprinkler maintenance, allowing you to easily get your key onto the valves.

Our years of experience and dedication to quality work truly set our main and drain valves apart from the competition. We pay close attention to the little details that contribute to the superior quality of our installations, including backflow prevention systems that ensure your property is protected. We never cut corners because we warranty our work and genuinely want our main and drain valves to be the last ones you ever need installed, along with providing ongoing sprinkler maintenance to keep everything running smoothly.