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Brown water in house after running sprinklers

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MikeCa

New Member

Posts: 3

1

Sunday, July 27th 2014, 5:15pm

Brown water in house after running sprinklers

Hi all --

I turned on my irrigation system today (Rainbird controller, six zones, approximately 25 heads) and I have brown water in my home after running the sprinklers. The brown water only comes after running the sprinklers, it doesn't happen after I turn on the valves supplying water to the solenoid.

I thought it could be a problem with the backflow preventer but I replaced it with new parts from Home Depot. It's a FEBCO 765 PVBA.

Any thoughts? I am lost with this, I can't imagine dirt is coming from the sprinker lines, through the backflow preventer and into the potable water of the home. But maybe it is...?

Thanks.

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 5,064

Location: Metro NYC

2

Sunday, July 27th 2014, 9:51pm

By any chance are you on well water?

MikeCa

New Member

Posts: 3

3

Sunday, July 27th 2014, 10:00pm

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

By any chance are you on well water?
I am not on well water, I am on city water. It's a pretty clear cause and effect, I can have the system on (main irrigation valve open and the valves before and after the PVBA open) with clean water in the house. But if I am running a zone then very clearly brown water comes out of any of the faucets.

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 5,064

Location: Metro NYC

4

Monday, July 28th 2014, 7:47am

You might leave the sprinkler system out of it, but duplicate its flow by opening all the faucets on sinks and bathtubs, and if you aren't seeing brown water by then, open some outdoor hose bibs.

Talk to the water department, and see if they have a schedule of flushing the mains, which gets rid of sediment in the system.

MikeCa

New Member

Posts: 3

5

Monday, July 28th 2014, 8:32am

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

You might leave the sprinkler system out of it, but duplicate its flow by opening all the faucets on sinks and bathtubs, and if you aren't seeing brown water by then, open some outdoor hose bibs.

Talk to the water department, and see if they have a schedule of flushing the mains, which gets rid of sediment in the system.
I see, you are suggesting that maybe there is sediment in the main water system and only the sprinkler system is active enough to aggitate the existing sediment?

Thanks.

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 5,064

Location: Metro NYC

6

Monday, July 28th 2014, 4:45pm

It could be that you have a steel supply line to the house, and the sediment is in there.

hi.todd

Supreme Member

Posts: 475

Location: Houston, Texas

7

Wednesday, July 30th 2014, 3:01am

Have you had your backflow device inspected. There are two main components to the Febco 765. There is the air inlet through the poppet and bonnet. This is the most common repair part addressed. Just below the air inlet is the check valve, which is a common repair that will need to be addressed. The only way to see that it needs work or replacement is through a backflow Inspection.
It could be that your backflow device is either not installed correctly, it may be the wrong type of device, or it may need to be repaired or replaced.
Check out www.backflowinformation.com
:thumbup: :thumbsup:
LI0006121, BPAT0011021, CI0009500

RichardAlan

New Member

Posts: 2

8

Thursday, July 20th 2017, 9:27pm

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

By any chance are you on well water?


I know this is an old thread, but a google search found this as the only result relevant to me!

I have this exact problem and I AM on a well. System was installed about one year ago.

I believe it is done properly as far as backflow prevention and design, and my pump doesn't run when the system is off, so I don't suspect a leak.

What is the relevance of being on a well? I suppose you may be suggesting the well is getting pumped too low and picking up silt?

I ran the system for the first time today this season and only for about 5 minutes. Still got brown water. The system usually runs 5 zones for a total time of about 2 hours and has never faltered.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Rich

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 5,064

Location: Metro NYC

9

Friday, July 21st 2017, 6:42am

Some wells seem to end up having some buildup on the steel casing. A newly installed sprinkler system can cause the water level in the well to drop considerably, and in doing so, exposing this buildup to air for the first time in many years. The buildup falls off the casing and into the water, and the pump forces it into the plumbing. I can't imagine it would go on for very long, or we'd be hearing more about this phenomenon. The best solution might be to try and remove the discoloration with a cartridge filter in the house plumbing.

RichardAlan

New Member

Posts: 2

10

Friday, July 21st 2017, 7:06am

Quoted from "Wet_Boots"

Some wells seem to end up having some buildup on the steel casing. A newly installed sprinkler system can cause the water level in the well to drop considerably, and in doing so, exposing this buildup to air for the first time in many years. The buildup falls off the casing and into the water, and the pump forces it into the plumbing. I can't imagine it would go on for very long, or we'd be hearing more about this phenomenon. The best solution might be to try and remove the discoloration with a cartridge filter in the house plumbing.


Thank you very much! The problem did seem to lessen as the season went on last year.

I'll just keep my filter changed more frequently during startup of the season and see what happens.

Thanks again!

Rich

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