Weeping Sprinkler Heads: Low Head Drainage vs. Weeping Valve

3 heads in 2 areas always wet. Not enough to move meter in an hour. Should they be fixed? Where to look first?

Two Causes

Low head drainage: "If the heads that are always wet are located at the bottom of a slope... when the zone finishes watering, the residual water remaining in the lateral line drains to the lowest point... Solution: install a check valve at the base of each head... Hunter & Rain Bird have these... 1/2" for sprays/mid rotors, 3/4" for large rotors... effective on 10' slopes."
Weeping valve: "Diaphragm in the valve doesn't completely seal... Sometimes there's debris... This problem would make the dial on your meter move, albeit slowly." Since meter doesn't move, this is less likely.

Check valve installation is the standard fix for low head drainage.

Irrigation: Leaking Sprinkler Heads: Valve Diaphragm or Low-Head Drainage?; Why a Sprinkler Head Leaks When the System Is Off: Diaphragm Wear; Shutting Off Water to Abandoned Hillside Sprinkler System; Sprinkler System Manual Start: Solenoid Buzz, No Pressure, One Head Seeps; Sprinkler System Water Hammer: Cracked Valve Top, Loud Bang; How Many Hunter I-40 Heads on 1" Line at 65 PSI, 10 GPM?; No Water to Sprinkler System After Copper Main Line Replacement; Fixing Leaky Sprinkler Heads and Low-Pressure Zones; Weeping Sprinkler Head: Valve Seat or Diaphragm Issue; Fixing Overspray Patterns on Pop-Up Sprinkler Heads

Garden Articles

Plants