Sprinkler heads, nozzles, a zone valve and an irrigation controller laid out in a row on a workbench

The Parts of a Sprinkler System in Maplewood and What Each One Does

Heads, valves, a controller, a backflow preventer, and the pipe and wire between them: what each part does, where it sits in your yard, and what to tell us when one stops doing its job.

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The parts of a sprinkler system

A sprinkler system is heads, valves, a controller, a backflow preventer, and the pipe and wiring that run between them.

Most of it lives under the lawn, so the heads popping up and the box on the garage wall are all most owners ever see. When a zone acts up, the trouble is in one of these parts, and knowing which one does what makes the call to us a short one.

sprinkler repair

These are the parts every in-ground system has, and the job each one does:

Heads
Pop up out of the turf when their zone runs and put the water on the lawn.
What heads do
Valves
Open and close the water to each "zone", the group of heads that run together.
What valves do
Controller
The box most people call the timer. It tells each valve when to open and for how long.
What the controller does
Backflow preventer
Keeps the water in the sprinkler lines from flowing back into your household supply.
What it protects
Pipe
Carries the water underground from the supply to the valves and out to every head.
When pipe fails
Wiring
Buried low-voltage field wire that carries the controller's signal out to each valve.
How it runs a valve

Sprinkler heads: rotors and spray heads

Heads put the water on the lawn: a "rotor" over the large stretches of turf, and a spray head over the small areas.

Each head sits flush with the lawn, pops up when its zone runs and drops back out of the mower's way when it stops. It is aimed and set to put the right amount of water on its patch, and the "head spacing", how far apart the heads sit, decides how even the coverage is.

You will find these on the heads in a typical lawn:

Rotors
A rotor sweeps a single stream back and forth through an arc set on the head, which is how one head can water a wide part of the yard.
Spray heads
A spray head throws its whole pattern at once and does not turn, which suits narrow strips, side yards and the curves along beds.
Nozzles
The "nozzle" is the tip on every head that shapes the spray. It is the part we most often clean or swap on a repair, because a clogged one leaves a dry spot.

rotor vs spray

Zone valves and the valve box

Every zone has its own valve, buried in a "valve box", that opens and closes when the controller signals it.

When a zone will not start, we work down a short list and test the valve, the field wire and the timer in turn. Because one valve runs one group of heads, we check a system zone by zone.

Most owners know the valve box as the green lid in the yard. Lift it and you will see the valves and the wires running to them. A box full of water points to a leak, and that is worth a call.

sprinkler valves

A sprinkler valve manifold teed off a mainline pipe, exposed in an open trench in a lawn

Something in the system acting up?

You do not need to know which part it is. Call and tell us what the lawn is doing; we test the heads, valves, wiring and controller in turn and quote the whole job before we start.

Request Sprinkler Repair (651) 465-8823

We answer the phone or call back the same working day.

The controller and its sensors

The "controller" sets when each zone runs and for how long, and its sensors hold it off when rain or moist soil make watering unnecessary.

Most people call it the timer, the sprinkler clock or, on newer systems, the sprinkler app. It sends the signal down the field wiring to open each valve in turn. A "rain sensor" stops a cycle when it rains, and some systems carry sensors that read soil moisture and the weather.

Smart controllers go a step further: with a weather sensor, they change the watering schedule on their own based on rain, temperature and humidity.

smart sprinkler controller

The backflow preventer at the supply

The "backflow preventer" keeps the water in your sprinkler lines from flowing back into the household supply, and it gets tested at every spring start-up.

Some owners call it the backflow valve or the backflow device. It is usually a brass assembly standing near the foundation, close to where the sprinkler line leaves the house.

At a "start-up", the spring turn-on, we pressurize the system, test each zone, program the controller and test the backflow device, so you start the season knowing it still does its job.

sprinkler backflow preventer

The sprinkler parts that fail most

Heads, valves and pipe fail most often, from knocks, clogging, wear and freezing.

Here is where each one usually gives out:

Heads. Knocked by mowers and feet, clogged with grit, or worn until they stay down or spray the wrong way.
Valves. Wear and grit keep a valve from opening or closing all the way, so a zone runs short or will not shut off.
Pipe. Water left in the lines through a freeze cracks pipe, which is why the lines get blown out with compressed air each fall. Sun, weather and poor installation or upkeep wear on it too.

The EPA WaterSense: Sprinkler Spruce-Up checklist walks through the checks you can make yourself: broken heads, leaking joints and spray landing off the lawn.

sprinkler system problems

Owners around Maplewood on our work

Google reviews

Our Google reviews, as the neighbors wrote them.

Glenn with Rainmakers Irrigation is super cool, awesome and trustworthy. We are in Woodbury and almost the whole block on our street goes to Rainmakers for sprinkler installation, general maintenance, winterization, and spring startups. Their services are top notch, responses are timely, and prices are affordable. I would recommend Rainmakers Irrigation to anyone who is out shopping for a service provider to install, expand, or service an irrigation system.

Lun Ho

Google review

Absolutely great company to deal with .I was quoted by a different company that I needed a whole new irrigation system rainmakers came out and fixed a leak and replaced two sprinkler heads and got my system up and running and saved me $2700.00 dollars .if you need irrigation work done give them a call there an honest family owned local business.

robert mcnaughton

Google review

Always responsive...Always Fast...Always done right. LOVE THESE GUYS.

Thomas chris Chapman

Google review

Pop-up sprinkler heads sitting flush in a dewy front lawn beside a green valve box lid

Call about any part of the system

Heads, valves, the controller, the pipe and the wiring are all work we repair, and we test the backflow preventer at every start-up. Call, tell us what you see, and we will set a time.

Request a Free Estimate (651) 465-8823

Free, no-obligation estimates
We quote the whole job before we start
We clean up when the work is done