Installing a sprinkler system in Framingham? The City backflow test comes first

What a backflow preventer does

A sprinkler system is tied into your drinking water. If pressure drops, water from the lawn lines could be pulled back into the pipes. A backflow prevention device stops that, which is why the City wants to see it working.

The Framingham rule, step by step

1. Before installing the device, get approval from the Water Division by submitting a design data sheet.
2. Install the system and the device.
3. Contact the Water Division to schedule the test.
4. The City tests the device before the system goes into service. The fee shows on your water bill.
5. After it passes, an irrigation backflow device is not on the annual or semi-annual test list.

What sets the cost of a sprinkler system

• How many zones the yard needs: lawn, beds and shade areas water differently.
• Lawn size and shape, and how much digging is under patios or walks.
• The backflow device and the City's test fee.
• Controls: a basic timer or a smart controller that skips rainy days.

Start-up and shut-down, by the frost dates

NOAA's normals near Framingham put the median last hard freeze on April 13 and the first hard freeze of fall on October 24. Start the system after the spring freezes, and blow it out before the fall ones.

In a drought year, check the state drought level before the first spring watering.

Gerson's Landscaping is a landscaping business based in Framingham, Massachusetts, owned by Gerson E. Paniagua, offering lawn care, clean-ups, mulching, snow removal, stone walls and bluestone patios. Gerson speaks English and Spanish.