How We Clear an Irrigation Line
We Choose the Access Point
A sewer line has cleanouts built into it. Irrigation pipe rarely does. We work from a headgate, an open end, a riser, or a culvert mouth, and part of the job is choosing the access point that gives the best run at the blockage.
We Match the Nozzle to the Pipe
Irrigation lines and culverts run far larger than household drain pipe. Clearing a large-diameter line takes a different nozzle than clearing a four-inch drain, so we match the nozzle to the pipe and to what is sitting in it.
We Account for the Material
Around here we work on corrugated metal culvert, plastic culvert, PVC mainline, and old concrete pipe. Each takes a different amount of pressure. Thin-walled culvert and aging concrete with open joints get handled carefully, or not jetted at all if the pipe is too far gone.
We Run Water to Confirm
We feed the hose in, run the jet down to the far end, and clean the pipe wall on the way back out. What comes out is usually silt, sand, root material, and whatever washed in through an open inlet. When we finish, we run water through the line and confirm it carries.
Why Irrigation Lines Plug Up in the Uncompahgre Valley
This is one of the most heavily irrigated valleys in Colorado. The Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association was founded in 1903 and operates the Gunnison Tunnel project, which carries Gunnison River water into Montrose and Delta counties. The association describes itself as the largest irrigation system in the Upper Colorado Basin states, serving roughly 3,500 shareholders through more than 720 miles of canals, laterals, and drains.
Two things follow from that.
The first is sediment. Water traveling through an open canal system picks up silt, sand, leaves, and moss before it ever reaches your headgate. Once it enters a buried line and slows down, that material drops out. It settles fastest in low spots and at bends, and it builds a little more every season.
The second is timing. The irrigation season here runs roughly April through October, about 210 days. That leaves a real stretch of the year when your lines sit dry and are easy to work on. It also means that a line plugging in season puts you against both a delivery schedule and a growing crop.
The pipe itself adds to the problem. On-farm delivery in this valley runs through ditches, gated pipe, and buried mainline, much of it decades old and most of it without a single cleanout.
Where We Work
Our irrigation work sits on the valley floor, where the farmed ground is. The Uncompahgre Project stretches along both sides of the river from near Colona down to Delta, and that is where most irrigation lines and culverts are.
Our full service area runs wider, across Montrose, Delta, and Ouray counties: Montrose and Olathe, then Delta, Austin, Cory, Eckert, and Cedaredge up the Surface Creek Valley, and Ridgway to the south. For irrigation and culvert work, the farms and rural lots around Olathe, Austin, and Delta keep us busiest.
If you have a plugged line or culvert on agricultural ground, call and tell us the length and diameter if you know them.
Common Questions About Irrigation Jetting
Do you clear UVWUA canals and laterals?
No. The canals and laterals belong to the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association, which holds an easement to deliver water and maintain that system. Our work starts on the private side, from your headgate or inlet onto your property. If the problem is upstream in the association's system, contact UVWUA directly.
When is the best time to jet an irrigation line?
Before the season starts or after it ends. The irrigation season here runs roughly April through October, so early spring and late fall are when lines are dry and easiest to work. Clearing a line in March costs the same as clearing it in July and does not cost you a watering.
Can you clear a culvert under a driveway?
Yes. Driveway and field culverts are regular work for us, and jetting usually clears them without digging. Culverts under county roads belong to the road authority, so check with the county before scheduling work on one of those.
Is this the same as hydro jetting a sewer line?
The equipment is related; the job is not. Sewer jetting works on smaller drain and sewer pipes in and around a building. Irrigation jetting works on larger buried pipe and culverts out on the property, usually with no cleanout access. We do both.
Will jetting damage old pipe?
It can, if the pressure does not match the pipe. Old concrete pipe and thin-walled corrugated culvert take less pressure than PVC mainline. We look at what we are working on before we start. If a line is too deteriorated to jet safely, we tell you that instead of running it anyway.
