This wasn’t the best phone call to receive at 8:30PM. On the croquet lawn #2, we had a pretty large irrigation break that flooded the lawn. You might be asking, “Didn’t we just install a new irrigation system?”
The component that broke was called the swing joint, a section of pipe that connects the sprinkler head to the irrigation line. The swing joint allows the installer the ability to level the sprinkler head to the ground during installation. It’s also the part that allows the sprinkler head to ‘give’ when it is driven over by a piece of equipment, like a mower. You can below a diagram that illustrates this set up.
This is the 3rd swing joint that broke this way, this season. The manufacturer is aware of the issue and is replacing the faulty swing joints. This irrigation break has nothing to do with the quality of the installation nor the main HDPE piping used in the project. It took about 1 hour to make the repair and have the irrigation back up and running.
Above, you can see how the fitting from the swing joint broke, causing the sprinkler head to come off the swing joint.