Pineview's typical water season in our part of Weber County runs April 15 to October 15, and every April the same calls come in: sprinklers spraying the street, a zone that will not shut off, a soggy valve box. Most of it is preventable with one habit and one walk-through. Here is the routine we use, and the one thing to do before the water ever arrives.
What should you do before the district turns water on?
The single best habit for spring: make sure your manual shutoff valve is closed before the district charges the lines. When the system pressurizes on your schedule instead of theirs, you are standing in the yard watching for problems, not getting a call at work from a neighbor because your front sprinklers have been spraying the road all morning. A head that cracked over winter or a valve that stuck open will announce itself the moment pressure hits it. Be there when it does.
Expect a bumpy first two weeks
Something most people do not know: when the district says water turns on April 15, it is normal for service to come and go for a couple of weeks afterward. The district is starting up its own system too, and it has its own repairs to make. We get calls every spring that go "we had water yesterday and now we don't." Before assuming something in your yard is broken, check whether your neighbors have water and whether Pineview has posted an outage. In our experience, startup interruptions come and go for roughly the first two weeks of the season.
The startup walk-through
Once the water is on and your valve is open, run the system one zone at a time and walk it. Here is what we check on every yard:
- Every head pops up fully and rotates or fans the way it should
- Heads are adjusted to water lawn, not the driveway, sidewalk, or road
- No head is blocked by grass that grew over it or a shrub that filled in
- No zone shows a pressure drop or a wet spot that was not there last fall
- The controller's date, time, and schedule survived the winter
- The rain or freeze sensor, if you have one, still responds
Winter is hard on irrigation. Freeze and thaw heaves heads out of alignment, mowers and snow shovels crack risers, and valves that sat all winter sometimes stick. Ten minutes of walking finds problems that would otherwise run all season.
Clean the head screens once a year
Here is the check almost nobody does. Most spray heads have a small screen inside, and even with a filter on your main line, debris still works down into those screens over the season. A clogged screen changes how far the head throws, how evenly it covers, and how the whole zone performs. Popping the heads open and rinsing the screens once a year is a five-minute job per zone, and spring startup is the natural time to do it.
How should you set the schedule in April?
Do not start the season on last summer's schedule. Utah's free Weekly Lawn Watering Guide at conservewater.utah.gov publishes how many days per week your county actually needs right now, and in April that number is low. Lawns coming out of winter need far less than most controllers are set to give them. Starting low also matters more than it used to, because your usage now counts against a seasonal allotment, and the gallons you do not spray in April are gallons you will want in July. We covered how the allotments and the $500 penalty work in our post on secondary water meters.
When to have us do it
If the walk-through turns up a stuck valve, a line that lost pressure, or heads that need rework, or if you would just rather hand the whole spring startup off, that is standard work for us. Our sprinkler systems service covers startup, repairs, head adjustment, and getting the controller set to a schedule that respects your allotment.
Common questions
When does secondary water turn on in Weber County?
Pineview's typical season in our area runs April 15 to October 15, though the district can adjust based on supply and conditions. Expect service to be intermittent for roughly the first two weeks after turn-on while the district starts up and repairs its own system. Keep your manual valve closed until you are ready to pressurize your yard yourself.
Why do my sprinklers work one day and not the next in April?
Early-season interruptions are usually the district, not your yard. Water providers make their own startup repairs in the first weeks of the season, so supply can come and go. If it persists past the first couple of weeks, or your neighbors have water and you do not, then it is time to look at your own system.
What should I check when starting my sprinklers in spring?
Close your own valve before the district charges the lines, then start up on your own schedule. Run one zone at a time and check that every head pops up, sprays the lawn instead of hardscape, and holds pressure. Verify the controller schedule, test any rain or freeze sensor, and clean the screens inside the heads. Set run times to the state's weekly watering guide for April, not July.
Who does sprinkler startup and repair in North Ogden?
Local irrigation contractors handle spring startups, head adjustments, valve repairs, and controller scheduling. Felter Landscape does this work across North Ogden and greater Weber County.
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