SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers

I'm completely new to irrigation, but have a controller and am adding some zones to our backyard where there have never been any. The house we're in is circa early 1960's, a front yard sprinkler system was in place when we moved in, seven zones in the front do work pretty well. The installed left a stubbed off 1" PVC heading to the back yard, so that was nice of them and I'm making good use of it.

I had a leak near the front water meter recently so we dug the whole thing up. (the fresh PVC, 3/4" stuff, replaced the cracked 1" PVC stuff that was there. I viewed it as a temporary fix while I figured this out.)



The City of Irving, Texas, tells me I have a 3/4" water meter. One end of it says "Hersey 5/8", so is it really not 3/4"?



Is this a backflow preventer? If so, if this was your home, would you leave it alone and bury it again, or replace it? On either end were corroded off bits that looked like they might have been valve levers (where the rusty places are).



Does this copper loop-the-loop make any sense from a plumbing perspective, or was it just a guy using what he had to get it all in the hole after teeing in the sprinkler system much later?

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

Step one. Take your photos to Tinypic.com and upload them there. You will get copy-and-paste options to bring the photos back here. (choose the one with the 'img' tags) Your link pointed to a password-protected website.

Tinypic will probably stick an ad into their anti-robots popup, but it's a small price to pay for free image hosting that is viewable anywhere.

Smugmug is great for a lot of things, but apparently not this. I've get it fixed.

"

Quoted from "manowell"

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

Step one. Take your photos to Tinypic.com and upload them there. You will get copy-and-paste options to bring the photos back here. (choose the one with the 'img' tags) Your link pointed to a password-protected website.

Tinypic will probably stick an ad into their anti-robots popup, but it's a small price to pay for free image hosting that is viewable anywhere.

"

Quoted from "manowell"

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

Smugmug is great for a lot of things, but apparently not this. I've got it fixed now.

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

You are in kind of an awkward place. You want that DCVA backflow preventer to be accessible for testing and repair. It was definitely not installed with that in mind. The water meter might be what is known as a 3/4 x 5/8 device, meaning it uses the 5/8 form, but has much better flow characteristics.

By the way, Texas has way upped their game as pertains to lawn sprinkler rules and regulations ($$$), so you might consider the possibility of first getting the plumbing right, before doing anything else. A pro would move the DCVA about a foot and get it into its own valve box, and get new handles for its valves.

That's the kind of input I'm looking for. Whereas I'm not dying to spend $$$ on this, right now I've got it all uncovered and would just as soon put it back right, if I can afford to.

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

The water meter might be what is known as a 3/4 x 5/8 device, meaning it uses the 5/8 form, but has much better flow characteristics.

I found the model, a Hersey 430. It is a true 5/8" meter, according to their specs.