How to Install a Residential Irrigation System

Prep

• 1

  Push a flag or other marker into the ground to mark the places where sprinklers will go.

• 2

  Spray paint the lawn where you plan to trench.

• 3

  Dig trenches 8 to 12 inches deep using a trenching machine or shovel.

• 4

  Position components of the system in the places beside the trenches where they are to be installed.

Irrigation Line Insertion

• 5

  Twist the lever of the main line water valve to the off position. With PVC pipe cutters, cut a section out of the main line after the main line valve that is the same size as the slip-type compression T you plan to install for the irrigation line.

• 6

  Twist off the end pieces of the T and slip them onto the ends of the main line opening. Always roll Teflon tape around fitting threads, including those of the compression T. Insert the T into the cut space in the main line and screw the ends onto the T. Always use a wrench to tighten fittings by turning them 1 1/2 turns.

• 7

  Twist two Teflon tape-wrapped fittings into the ends of a shutoff valve. Cut a 4-inch section of PVC pipe. Use sandpaper to sand the rough edges of a piece of pipe that is to be connected to a fitting. Dab PVC pipe primer and glue inside the T opening, inside one of the shutoff valve fittings and on both ends of the 4-inch pipe section. Slip the 4-inch section into the T opening and slide the shut-off valve onto the pipe section. Twist pipes into fittings a quarter turn to settle the pipe and hold the connection in place for 15 seconds so it can dry.

• 8

  Dab primer and glue into the remaining shutoff valve opening and onto the end of the pipe that connects the irrigation line to the water valve manifold. Insert the pipe into the shutoff valve fitting.

• 9

  Place a water valve box over the water valve manifold.

Water Valve Assembly

• 10

  Cut a 4-inch PVC pipe section for the water valve manifold to give yourself room to work in the future and twist a fitting into each of the two water valve "Flow" inlets.

• 11

  Dab PVC primer and glue inside the inlet fittings, the 4-inch pipe section and the open end of the irrigation line pipe. Slip the pipe section into the fittings between the two valves and slide the open fitting of the first valve onto the irrigation pipe. Twist the components until the unit sits flush to the ground.

• 12

  Twist two pipe-fittings into the two water valve outlets. Dab primer and glue into the two fittings and onto one end of each of the two irrigation pipes that lead to the two sprinkler zones. Slide the two pipes into the fittings.

Sprinkler Installation

• 13

  Dab primer and glue over each pipe and fitting within the irrigation system, one by one, and connect them until the system is assembled.

• 14

  Install PVC pipe fittings into the pipe where the sprinklers are to be inserted. Screw a swing-pipe assembly into the fitting and screw a sprinkler housing onto the open end of the assembly. Tighten the assembly connections by hand.

• 15

  Fill in the trenches with dirt. Confirm that the sprinklers are buried vertically in the ground and that the heads are level to and above the ground.