Sometimes, the Smallest Fixes Make the Biggest Difference

Irrigation Valve Cleaning That Saved My Garden (And Water Bill!)

“My sprinklers wouldn’t shut off. After some quick irrigation valve troubleshooting, I discovered a clogged filter full of dirt and insect debris. A simple cleaning and flush fixed everything—saving water, money, and stress. Watch how easy this DIY sprinkler repair can be!”

It all started on a weekday morning. As I left for a meeting, I noticed one of my irrigation zones near the entrance was running. I thought, “Odd, when did I change the schedule to run at this time? I’ll check when I get back.” But when I came back, another zone was on—and the first one was still running. 🤯

That’s when I realized something wasn’t right. The irrigation had been running all that time (and who knows for how long before that!) because the valves weren’t showing any activity on the controller. On top of that, my Flume device battery had died, so no notifications came through.

I shut down the entire irrigation water connection and told myself I’d fix it over the weekend.

Come Saturday morning, tools in hand, I started troubleshooting. My first thought was that the solenoid had failed and I’d need a new one. But as I dug deeper, the issue turned out to be far simpler.

Inside the valve filter, I found layers of debris—dirt, buildup, and even insect body parts (still wondering how they got in there!). After five years of smooth operation without ever needing to touch the valves, it was long overdue for a cleaning. This was a perfect case of irrigation valve troubleshooting in action.

I gave the filter a good rinse, twisted the bleed screw to flush out any extra debris, and reassembled everything. Just like that—the valve closed perfectly again. No replacement needed!

What felt like a potential big repair turned into a satisfying reminder: sometimes the smallest bit of garden irrigation maintenance—like cleaning and flushing a valve—can save a lot of wasted water, money, and stress. It’s essentially a quick DIY sprinkler repair that also supports better landscape water conservation.

I put together a video of the process so you can see exactly how I fixed it, including how to clean an irrigation valve filter step by step. Hopefully it inspires you to give your irrigation system a quick check-up, too!

RainBird Medium Flow Control Zone Kit with 1 in. ASVF Anti-Siphon Valve & 1 in. PR RBY Filter-Image copied RainBird website