Sprinklers ice Bend road, prompt winter reminder

Sprinklers are to blame for a Monday morning crash on Empire Avenue in northeast Bend, when a car slid on ice caused by an adjacent business sprinkler system running in sub-freezing temperatures.

Police arrived to direct traffic while a city of Bend truck spread cinders and ice melt across the road.

The slab of ice covered a large section of eastbound Empire Avenue. The business owners said their sprinkler system will now be turned off for the season.

That leads to the question of when and why sprinkler systems should be turned off and blown out.

According to Justin Veek, owner of Veek’s Landscaping, the time is now — and no later than the end of October.

“It becomes a liability for homeowners and for a lot of landlords and property managers if somebody comes and slips and falls,” Veek said. ” So the sooner you can get those turned off before we get into the freezing temps, even if they’re not blown out right that second, you’re going to be better off just liability-wise.”

Blowing out sprinklers is essentially forcing air through the piping system to clear out as much remaining water as possible. Water left to sit inside the pipes could freeze, causing pipes to burst and leaving homeowners with an expensive repair job.

“It’s a lot cheaper to pay for a sprinkler winterization and get it done ahead of time, instead of having to pay $1000 dollar technical bill in the middle of winter and having somebody have to dig up frozen pipes, because then you’re getting into a whole other nightmare,” Veek said.

It’s not guaranteed pipes won’t get damaged in winter weather, but according to Veek, it’s one of the best ways to prepare your landscape for winter.

It’s also important to know that homeowners should disconnect their hoses from their houses, now that Central Oregon has reached freezing temperatures. That will prevent damage to indoor plumbing.