Gearing Up For 2016 Sprinkler Blowouts

Sprinkler blowouts are upon us again. Thanks to all our long-time customers who stick with us year after year, and "Welcome Aboard" to all our new customers.  If you haven't signed up yet, click here.

Our Tentative Start Date For Sprinkler Blowouts Is Monday, October 10

Regarding Irrigation Shut-Down And Subdivisions

Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District is shutting down on October 6, Settler's on October 7, and Pioneer on October 8.  Many subdivisions however, have storage and do not cut off the water until a later date.  If you know when the water will be shut down in your subdivision, please drop us an email and let us know.  We try to wait until the water is totally off, but with the large number of blowouts we have to do we can't always do that.

If the water is still flowing to your property when we arrive to do the blowout more often than not we will have to turn off the main valve that is deep in the ground if available instead of the one usually located in a valve box near the irrigation filter.  The reason for this is because if the valve in the box is in a downward slant toward the filter and we turn it off, a small amount of water will be trapped on the other side of the valve, and if it is PVC pipe it can freeze and crack.  If the valve is brass, and the piping running to it is poly, that small amount isn't usually an issue.  When we shut off the main deep in the ground we are able to blow out the system from that valve forward and through your property.  If you insist on us waiting until your water is totally off, you will have to wait until our next trip through your zip code.

Two Machines In Use This Year

We are running two machines this year.  One of them however, will only be running part time.  My oldest son, Justin, who many of our long-time customers know because he has assisted several times over the years, will be running our usual machine, while I run our newest, and considerably larger machine.  If you missed the post about our new equipment, and remodel of the old, you can catch the story here.

We tried hard to find someone to work full-time for this season, but it appears no one is in need of a job.  Justin is juggling school and kids, so is willing to work a few days a week to help out.  With that, I will be limiting him to Meridian and the Boise 87313 zip code area only.  This arrangement will work out well, because the zip codes we get the most sprinkler blowout requests are Meridian 83646, Meridian 83642, Boise 83709, and Boise 83713 in that order.  Calculating those who have already signed up for this season, those zip codes make up 50% of our total list at this point, and made up 53% of our completed sprinkler blowouts last year.  Keeping Justin in Meridian should help as well with slowing down cancellations in Meridian.  As I make my normal rounds, I will most likely be making passes through Meridian as well.

Changes In Notification Methods

During this time of year we need to be able to keep in contact with hundreds of customers on a regular basis. Obviously 800+ one-on-one daily phone calls isn't possible, so we use our blog to let our customers know where we will be each day. We set our posts to go out at midnight so they will be available no matter how early in the morning you start your day.
Last year, on a limited basis, we sent out auto-texts the night before to those in the zip code area we were going to visit the next day and it was a great success.  These were only sent out to those who checked the text notification box on the sign-up form.  If you haven't done so on your form, and would like a text notification, send us an email with your phone number and we will add it to your info in our database.  We will still be sending out periodic emails.

We are looking into a system to make automated phone call notifications the night before, but doubtful that will be ready anytime this season.  What do YOU think of an automated phone call notification?