How to Drain a Yard Sprinkler

Locate the main water line inside the home. You can find it in the basement or in a crawlspace. The irrigation line shut-off valve tees off of the side of the main water line. It is close to the tee-off point, about a foot or so away. Grasp the irrigation line shut-off valve and turn it off. If the valve is a gate valve, twist it to the right to turn it off. If the valve is a ball valve, twist the lever so that it’s adjacent to the pipeline to turn it off.

Locate the backflow prevention device outside of the home. You can usually find the preventer on the other side of the wall from the main water line shut-off valve. Grasp the two ball valve levers of the preventer and turn them so that they are adjacent to the line.

Insert a flat-head screwdriver into the two screws of the outlet valves on the side of the preventer. Twist the screws until the grooves are parallel with the valves. Water drains from the outlet valves. Twist off the cap at the bottom elbow of the preventer and put it in a safe place until spring. After the preventer drains, twist the two ball valves levers into a position between open and closed. Do the same with the outlet valves.

Pull up the lid of the valve manifold box to drain the valves and sprinklers. Grasp the first valve solenoid and twist it to the left to open it. The solenoid is a knob that allows you to manually open the water valve to that valve's connected sprinklers and allow water to flow to the sprinklers.

Unscrew the bleed cap and allow water to drain from the valve. The bleed is right in front of the solenoid. It is a small drain inside the valve, which allows water to flow from the valve. Do the same for the remaining valves.

Twist the bleed caps back onto the solenoids and leave the solenoids open. If the valve manifold features a drain valve at the end of the line, twist it to the left to open it. Leave the solenoids and drain valve open throughout winter.