Irrigation Leak

Unless you have been on my (now largely unused) SnapChat feed, you would not be aware of just how many irrigation (sprinkler system) issues we had in Temecula.... Dozens. Like, well over 60 or 70 leaks over the past 15 years we lived in that house. Some minor, some major - 20+ feet high water spurts - all of them super-mega annoying.
We rolled our eyes when we saw that this place had a system that was pretty much identical. Cole assured us, "They have not had any issues and for sure not as many issues as you guys have had in the past."

It's been there since day zero, and we just did not have time to say it out loud, but finally the urgent to-do list (flushing toilet and a hot shower) calmed enough for Freddy to finally say it out loud...
"Why is there a single green patch of lawn in the middle of the dead patch?"
I love Freddy to bits, but I really wish she could dial her 'sprinkler senses' down a notch.... She just can not let sprinkler issues slow leak for a second longer... I now (after 37 years of marriage - 15 of which we had a yard full of sprinkler issues) know better than to try and brush her off, so within seconds of her asking the question, I was digging a hole in said green patch...

I've come to really like the half shovel.. but that's not what this blog is about.

Looks like the irrigation pipe is under the shop (garage) drainage pipe. I think its safe to say that the nick occurred when the shop drain pipe was put in.
The access to fix the issue is just a little more muddy / messy than I am used to, but honestly, after fixing so many leaks in SoCal, this is just another day in paradise for us here.

But here is also where I publicly air my stupid.
I asked the previous home owner about the three pipes I 'found' while trenching the dish trench a week or three back, and he confidently said that the third pipe went to the back fence sprinkler line where there are about 4-5 spray heads... I stupidly assumed that this line with the drip was that same line, as it was in the right direction and depth.
Freddy, to be clear, did ask "Why is it still dripping when the zones not running?"
I, to be clear, did confidently answer based on past experience "When the zone is off, the pipe is still full of water. We had 1/2 inch line in Temecula, and they leaked for hours. This is a 1-inch line, and so it has even more water in it."
Yeah. Nah.

The joiner in one hand and the pipe cutters in the other hand and slice the pipe I did.
Get very wet, but a split second later, I did.
Turns out, this was not the zone drop, but, it was in fact, the main feed line from the town water TO the sprinkler zones control.
Let's just say that Post Falls has excellent water pressure.
Thankfully Cole had pointed out our water meter pit just a few days earlier and so I ran to the shop (garage) and grabbed some multigrips and ripped the cover off - trying to ignore the new water feature blasting out the cleanly cut 1 inch pipe and spiders in the pit and the very very loud ticking water meter spinning like a time machine clock.
Interestingly, in SoCal the water valve has a clear on/off. These just keep turning, so I first went past off and around to partly on before I figured out they just freely rotate the full 360 deg. So walked it back a bit and got the new water feature under control.
Oddly, both Freddy and I were just matter-of-fact at this point. We had dealt with this sort of crap so much it was not even interesting... to the point where I was just kneeling at the water pit for a good while... Freddy finally walked up to me and asked what I was doing or if I was Ok or words to that effect... And who can blame me for being slightly distracted by the very interesting sight before me....

You really cant get a sense of depth from this photo, but kneeling before the pit the depth was all I saw. I'm kneeling there, fixated, wondering how to run an Ethernet cable to the pit and asking myself how much does flowing water vibrate.
The pit is about 3 feet deep! Perfect seismic vault depth! The bottom is not super flat, but there is a clear spot for a brick to level out a landing spot for the Rapsberry Pi seismograph. Not only that, but there really were not that many spiders and crap in there; it would be a perfect place for the seismograph.
I've decided to just run a network cable over the ground and put it in there for a week or so, and see how much vibration we get every time we flush the dunny. It's the only way to know for sure.

Back to reality... We know the drill. Get the wet and dry vac. Pull the filter, empty the crud from the last job out and suck the water out of the hole.
Cut the pipe the right length, put the spacer on, turn the water back on, check for drips. None. Leave the hole uncovered, check for drips during the irrigation cycle, ie, check each zone as its running to make sure the weird pressure changes do not cause any issues to the repair.
All good. Cover the hole.
I'm sure the grass will die like the rest in that spot (and yes, we plan to add two more spray heads and try to green that bit up - it's pretty low on the to-do list).

Last irrigation comment. The previous homeowner told us about the service the city provides around October and March... In October, they come and use compressed air to blow the water out of the lines so they are mostly dry. This way, when the pipes freeze, they don't burst.
Then in March, they put a backflow device on and refill them, test them, and then remove the backflow check valve.
Cole told us that he reseeds his lawn each spring to get it to grow back thick and lush, so we may get in that habit as well.
Lots to learn about even basic stuff.
Move to Idaho they said, you will never have issues with your irrigation system they said... yeah, nah...