1. It is very important that all of the valves on the homeowner’s system be CLOSED before water is turned on for the first time. Close the valve on your system before water is turned on April 16 to avoid flooding of your yard when water enters our irrigation system. Too many of us have learned this from experience.
2. Please make any needed repairs ahead of time with the repair company of the homeowner’s choice. Determine whether your system needs repairs between now and Saturday, April 16. This would include any visible problems to your pipes/pumps or any known/existing problems.
3. We ask that all homeowners and tenants bring their home irrigation systems on line as soon as the water becomes available on April 16. Chuck’s Sprinkler Services will perform the opening of the main valve on Saturday, April 16. Check later in the morning (probably after 10 am) to see if your water has arrived by turning your valve on.
If it seems to be working fine, you can turn off your valve and open it when you intend on using the water for your yard.
If your system springs a leak or isn’t working, Chuck’s Sprinkler Services will have several crews and trucks available in the area to perform immediate repairs to systems that exhibit leaks on start up. Please contact Chuck’s Sprinkler at 970-243-6294 for these immediate repairs on that day. Some leaks or system problems may require an immediate shut down of the system to complete repairs.
To minimize additional stress on our irrigation system and disruptions in homeowner’s normal lawn care cycles we ask that all homeowners check their systems on April 16th. In years past, some homeowners delayed initial use of their systems for up to 3 weeks, only to discover a problem that required a shut-down of the system to fix. These additional start-ups and shut-downs could have possibly been avoided, and we would like to minimize these as much as possible.
If a homeowner is going to be out of town the weekend of April 16 and 17, it would be very beneficial if they could arrange for a neighbor or trusted friend to check their system on Saturday and help coordinate any access and repairs if they are needed.
4. Questions?
If you are new to Grand Valley irrigation systems, you might talk to your neighbors to get a few pointers.
Questions about this announcement and preparations for “water on” please call as follows:
Comstock Estates Neighbors – This is a reminder our HOA Annual Meeting will be this Wednesday, January 12, at 7pm at the Fruita Community Center. If you would like to attend the meeting via Zoom, please send an email to bod@comstockhoa.net.
Water to Comstock Estates was turned off around 5:15 pm today. A homeowner had a broken main-stem on their respective irrigation pump system. Repair service has been called; however, we do not know when to expect repairs to be completed nor when the water will be turned back on.
Also — it is likely to freeze tonight, here is a repeat of the general guidelines sent out on October 1, 2021.
In the event of an early freeze before the HOA irrigation water is turned off.
1. Close your main valve. Depending on how cold and for how long the temperature remains below freezing, you may need to take additional precautions to prevent the main valve and standpipe from freezing. Many times, a blanket and/or a heavy cardboard box to trap the ground heat in with the main valve will suffice. For additional protection, wrap an electric heating pad snugly around the main valve and protect it from wetness. It ONLY needs to keep the main valve and standpipe above freezing; so the warm or medium setting should be more than plenty.
2. Open all of the downstream valves and spigots in your system. This will help drain as much water as possible. The ideal is to drain the water out of all the above ground plumbing. Underground valves and lines should be OK provided the ground does not freeze deep.
3. Remove your primary and secondary sediment screens. Screens in individual sprinkler heads do not necessarily need to be removed unless your sprinkler manufacturer advises to do so.
4. Drain your pump housing. There will be at least 1 but likely 2 pipe plugs or drain valves on your pump housing. Remove / Open these and allow the water to drain out. Once drained, replace / close the plugs or keep them out until the system is blown out.
Attached are General Guidelines for Seasonal Shutdown and Startup of Residential Irrigation Systems. Please print and/or save for future reference. Some of you know all this already, we have a number of new neighbors that may be unfamiliar with irrigation systems, and it’s probably a good review for all of us. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Our irrigation water is scheduled to be shut down Saturday October 16. Jim Jackson
President
Comstock Estates HOA
20 Sep 2021 General Guidelines for Seasonal Shutdown and Startup of Residential Irrigation Systems
Shutdown
1. CRITICAL: After the HOA irrigation water has been turned OFF and the underground system allowed to drain (approx. 24 hrs), each Homeowner must OPEN their main supply valve in order to drain any residual water out of the internal components of their valve. Water trapped in a valve WILL freeze and expand which will cause the valve body to crack. In most cases, this will not be apparent until Spring startup when the cracked valve fails catastrophically and the entire HOA system must be turned off in order for the Homeowner to conduct the repair.
2. Each Homeowner should have their irrigation system drained and blown out with compressed air in order to prevent the freezing and rupture of their lines, valves, and sprinkler heads.
a. There are several companies here in the Grand Valley that provide this service. Just be sure to schedule them ahead of time because they can get very busy during shutdown time. The urgency for scheduling early is that there may be a freeze before they can get to your system.
b. A mildly plumbing savvy Homeowner could blow out their own system. This involves knowing how to hook up an air compressor to their system and manually cycling their valves to ensure every zone is blown out (even zones that are not in use). There are many blogs and tutorials online which are highly informative. Be advised that although most home air compressors would provide enough pressure (~30–70 PSI), many cannot provide the volume of air (CFM) required to completely remove the water. CFM requirements are dependent on individual zone demand.
3. In the event an early freeze is approaching before the HOA irrigation water is turned off:
a. Close your main valve. Depending on how cold and for how long the temperature remains below freezing, you may need to take additional precautions to prevent the main valve and standpipe from freezing. Many times, a blanket and/or a heavy cardboard box to trap the ground heat in with the main valve will suffice. For additional protection, wrap an electric heating pad snugly around the main valve and protect it from wetness. It ONLY needs to keep the main valve and standpipe above freezing; so the warm or medium setting should be more than plenty.
b. Open all of the downstream valves and spigots in your system. This will help drain as much water as possible. The ideal is to drain the water out of all the above ground plumbing. Underground valves and lines should be OK provided the ground does not freeze deep.
c. Remove your primary and secondary sediment screens. Screens in individual sprinkler heads do not necessarily need to be removed unless your sprinkler manufacturer advises to do so.
d. Drain your pump housing. There will be at least 1 but likely 2 pipe plugs or drain valves on your pump housing. Remove / Open these and allow the water to drain out. Once drained, replace / close the plugs or keep them out until the system is blown out.
e. Remember to OPEN your main valve After the HOA water is off and drained.
Startup
1. The HOA will notify the Homeowners in advance as to what date the irrigation water will be turned on via entryway signage and email if you have subscribed for email alerts at https://comstockhoa.net/subscribe/
2. PRIOR TO the HOA startup date, please ensure your main supply valve is CLOSED and INSPECT IT for any cracks or damage. The opening of the HOA main valve pressurizes the underground system and any single failed Homeowner main valve will force the shutdown of the entire HOA irrigation system (312 homes).
3. If you need to conduct repairs to your main valve and/or standpipe prior to the HOA water-on date, please contact us via https://comstockhoa.net/contact-us/ or phone the HOA Manager (Lori Wood) at 970-812-4051, so that we can ensure you have sufficient time to complete your repair prior to HOA system pressurization.
4. If you have a main valve emergency and the HOA water needs to be turned off, please contact the HOA Manager (Lori Wood) at 970-812-4051.
Additional Information
– The irrigation water in the Grand Valley is occasionally full of sediment and debris due to upstream runoff. Other than more frequent maintenance of individual residential systems, there is not much else that can be done.
– The screen on our pipe head at the main ditch is only able to trap large debris like branches, long grasses, and the like (this is common). This screen at the pipe head is cleaned regularly to ensure we maintain a steady volume and pressure in our distribution system. Anything smaller needs to be filtered by the Homeowners system. Occasionally, the HOA experiences excessive sediment buildup in some of our distribution lines; which we flush and vacuum as needed.
– You should have at least 1 but preferably 2 sediment screens (in increasing mesh count / decreasing micron size) in your system. Your final mesh count should be in the range of 60 to 100 (depending on sprinkler nozzle type) before the water gets to any sprinkler heads. The frequency which these screens need to be flushed and disassembled for cleaning depends on the amount of sediment in the incoming water supply, and how often and for how long you water.
– A properly functioning sediment screen setup should not allow any sediment to get to your sprinkler heads (at least not anything big enough to plug them up). Sprinkler heads plugging up (in a properly designed system) is an indication that there is sediment bypassing the screen elements; possibly through a hole in the screen or a leaky or missing O-ring.
Thank You, for taking the time and interest in protecting and maintaining your irrigation system. We have 312 homes in our HOA. Each and all are connected to our distribution system via individual standpipe and shutoff valve. One bad valve disrupts the water supply to the entire HOA.
– If you are still having issues, or have general questions, please let us know and one of us would be glad to see how we can help.
Irrigation water is scheduled to be turned off for the season on Saturday, October 16. Please make arrangements to have your irrigation system winterized. The Board will be putting out an info sheet on that process in the next few days.
Chuck’s sprinklers will be turning the water off on Monday, August 23rd at about 1:30 pm for repairs in our neighborhood. It should be back on that same evening.
Correction for National Night Out – The event will be at Prospector Park in our neighborhood. Galena Side…and still FREE Enstrom’s Ice Cream. Still on Tuesday, August 3, 6:30 pm – 8:30pm
Comstock Estates Residents – National Night Out is coming up, next Tuesday, August 3 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Pioneer Park.
Come to the south side of Pioneer Park on Galena where you can meet members of the Fruita Police Department, Fire Department, your neighbors, the HOA Board and eat FREE Enstroms ice cream (for Comstock estates residents)
National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community.
We hope to see a good turn out next Tuesday. Did I mention free Enstroms ice cream?
Jim Jackson
President
Comstock Estates HOA
To contact Comstock Estates HOA
Send email message via the Contact button on the websiteOR
Contact Comstock Estates HOA Management Lori Wood, Broker/CAM Mgr. lwood@ggre.us, 970-812-4051 751 Horizon Ct. #115; Grand Junction, Co 81506
Comstock Estates Residents – National Night Out is coming up, next Tuesday, August 3 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Pioneer Park.
Come to the south side of Pioneer Park on Galena where you can meet members of the Fruita Police Department, Fire Department, your neighbors, the HOA Board and eat FREE Enstroms ice cream (for Comstock estates residents)
National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community.
We hope to see a good turn out next Tuesday. Did I mention free Enstroms ice cream?
