Irrigation - How It Works
It starts in the winter when the snow covers the mountains. This snow then melts and flows into the Boise River, where it is captured in the three reservoirs above Boise. The lowest of the three is Lucky Peak, and this is where the canal system starts. On the East side of our subdivision is a canal (the Eightmile lateral) that feeds our pressurized irrigation system.
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| Eightmile Lateral - Empty |
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There is a "valve gate" in this canal that pipes the water to an underground pump vault. This valve is opened in the spring by the canal water master after the canal is filled (usually in April). Volunteers in our subdivision maintain and repair this valve gate (Thank You). This includes clearing weeds and garbage from the metal screen throughout the season.
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| Eightmile lateral valve gate |
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The underground pump vault is on the back of a homeowners property off of S.E. 5th avenue. It has several pumps that have been upgraded over the years. The subdivision volunteers (who have put many hours over many years into this activity) maintain this equipment, calling in a pump company when needed. Besides the volunteer hours there is a financial cost to support this equipment. The control boxes can be seen on the edge of S. E. 5th St., near Martinique Dr.
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| Pump control panel |
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From the pumps the pressurized water is delivered underground to about two thirds of the homes in the subdivision. At each quadrant of four homes (sometimes only two) there is a valve that controls the water to those four lots. This valve will be found in one of the back corners of one of the four lots. It is about two to three feet underground and should be in a container as shown in the picture. The valve should be turned on in the spring and then left on for the season.
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| Quadrant valve |
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From the quadrant valve the irrigation line goes to each homeowners lot. There should be a valve on the corner of the homeowners lot that looks like this picture. The valve in the picture is closed. The homeowner will open this valve in the spring to start his/her irrigation system. The wise homeowner will probably wait several days after the system is started to allow dirt, ect. to flow through the system first.
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| Homeowners valve |
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Your irrigation system may be designed with an initial filter that deals with the water before it is distributed to your control valves and sprinklers. This filter may need to be cleaned several times each season.
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| Initial filter |
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If your irrigation system includes the ability to draw from the city water system there will be a backflow device between the city water and your irrigation system. The backflow device is designed to stop the canal irrigation water from flowing into the city water system. Be sure to shut the valves on this backflow when using the pressurized irrigation system.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you use the city water to water your lawn and your pressurized irrigation valve is open ... you take the chance that you are feeding espensive water into the pressurized system. This usually happens in the fall when the pressurized irrigation system is shut down. You will know that you have done this when you get your water bill a month later.
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| BackFlow Device |
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