Sprinkler Winterization for Peachland Properties

By late October in the Central Okanagan you are running out of window — not because it is technically impossible, but because contractor availability collapses in the last week or two before hard frost. Valley-floor properties can typically still book through most of October in a normal year. Higher-elevation areas — Big White, Black Mountain, upper Glenrosa, Joe Rich — should have been done in September and are genuinely late by month-end. If overnight temperatures have already dipped below zero at your property, treat it as urgent: shut the irrigation supply off at the isolation valve immediately, then get a blowout booked before the next cold night. A blowout scheduled the day after a hard freeze is a repair conversation, not a winterization one.

For a straightforward residential system with four to six zones and an accessible blowout port, a blowout usually runs thirty to forty-five minutes. Larger properties — a dozen zones, a pump and pressure tank, filtration, a long mainline out to the far side of an acreage — can take two to three hours because there is simply more to clear and more to drain. Systems with poor blowout-port access, buried valve boxes that need locating, or above-ground assemblies that must be dismantled all add time. A contractor should be able to give you a reasonable duration over the phone once they know how many zones you have and whether there is a pump.

Draining alone is not sufficient on most systems. Even with drain valves and favourable grade, laterals and low points retain water that gravity will not remove, and it only takes a small amount in the wrong place to crack a fitting or a valve body. Compressed air is used because it clears water that draining leaves behind.

The main risk is pressure, and it is a real one. Too much air pressure damages heads, seals and fittings, and it is easy to exceed safe limits with a compressor sized for tools rather than irrigation. Volume matters more than pressure for clearing lines. If you do it yourself, work zone by zone at low pressure and never leave a zone running dry on air longer than needed.