SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers

Hi All,



My name is Pete and I just joined the forum. My wife and I bought a house with a (sort of) underground sprinkler system installed. It's really a basic rinky-dink system without any plumbing connected to the main house line or any other professional setup. The whole system consists of the water lines which are just thin-walled 3/8" pipe (i think you pros call it swing pipe) connected to old broken sprinkler heads which i plan to replace. The house-side of these lines just stick up out of the ground with garden hose fittings on the end.



Hopefully this is a good enough description...I guess it's more of a permanent lawn sprinkler system rather than an irrigation system.



Now here come my questions:

1) can I use the existing line running under my lawn for a more professional system with timers and valves? (none of the lines slope downward toward the house so i guess I would be forced to blow the lines out every year rather than draining and would probably have to use above-ground valves)

2) I have connected the hose to each line to test the sprinklers and look for leaks but I live in Ontario and need to think about blowing the water out of the lines soon. Will a simple small compressor with a garden hose connection work well enough for this?

3) any other advice or help would be appreciated...I'm going to spend some time reading on the forum over the next couple of days.



Thanks! :-)

Pete