Waterworks Irrigation Wins Two BBB Torch Awards on Vancouver Island

Posted on November 18, 2025December 4, 2025

Last Friday night, Waterworks Irrigation was honored to be the only company to win two awards at the BBB Vancouver Island Torch Awards, a celebration of ethical business practices and community leadership across the region.

You can read the full list of winners on the official BBB announcement page.

As a trusted local irrigation company serving homeowners throughout Greater Victoria, we are proud to be recognized among Vancouver Island’s most respected businesses.

About the BBB Torch Awards

Hosted annually by the Better Business Bureau Serving Vancouver Island, the Torch Awards honor companies that demonstrate integrity, trust, and a commitment to their customers and communities. Each award highlights businesses that set a positive example for others through transparency, reliability, and community impact.

For Waterworks Irrigation, this recognition reflects the core values that have guided us since day one: quality workmanship, superior customer service, community involvement.

The Awards We Won

Best Landscape and Irrigation Company Victoria

Receiving the award for Best Landscape and Irrigation Company is an incredible honor. We are proud that our dedication to quality workmanship and unparalleled customer service has earned the appreciation it deserves.

Our team takes pride in every project we complete, ensuring every system is built to last, performs efficiently, and enhances the beauty of our clients’ properties. From large-scale irrigation installations to fine-tuned maintenance and repairs, we focus on:

Using high-quality materials and trusted brands for long-term reliability
Offering professional service backed by experience, warranty, and attention to detail
Prioritizing fast response times and complete client satisfaction

This award recognizes not only the skill of our technicians but also the trust our customers place in us year after year.

Community Excellence Award

We were also honored to receive the Community Excellence Award, recognizing businesses that make a lasting difference beyond their day-to-day operations.

One of the standout initiatives that contributed to this recognition is our Grizzlies Goal Donation Program, through which we partnered with the Victoria Grizzlies to donate $12,300 to the Goldstream Food Bank. This effort helped support families in need across Greater Victoria and reinforced our belief that local businesses should give back to the communities that help them thrive.

Beyond this program, our community involvement extends to supporting local events, charitable partnerships, and ongoing efforts to create meaningful connections with the people we serve. Community is at the heart of Waterworks, and this award is a reminder of what can be achieved when businesses and residents work together.

A Heartfelt Thank You

We want to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who nominated Waterworks Irrigation for this year’s awards, and to the BBB Vancouver Island team for recognizing our efforts. Most importantly, thank you to our loyal customers, community partners, and staff who continue to support us and make achievements like this possible.

Looking Ahead

Winning two BBB Torch Awards is both an honor and a motivation to continue raising the bar. We are proud to represent the values of integrity, quality, and community across Victoria, Colwood, Langford, Sidney and beyond.

To learn more about our award-winning services, visit the Waterworks Irrigation homepage or contact our team to discuss your next irrigation or landscape lighting project.

Why Do I Need To Winterize My Irrigation System?

Posted on October 25, 2022September 5, 2023

If you have an outdoor irrigation system, there are a few steps you can take to prepare it for winter. This includes draining leftover water, insulating the pipes, and protecting the main shut-off valve. It will also be helpful to bring your outdoor hoses inside, so they don’t freeze and crack.

Water pipes

To prevent damage to the irrigation system from freezing, it’s essential to winterize your water pipes. Proper winterization will prevent frozen pipes and costly repairs in the spring. There are a couple of methods you can use to winterize your lawn irrigation system.

Make sure the irrigation system’s backflow preventer is removed. It’s typically held in place by union connections. Disconnect the backflow preventer by unscrewing it from the bends. Wrap the insulation pipe with plastic or sheet insulation. Then secure the plastic with foam tape.

Learn more

Insulate backflow preventers

It is important to drain your lawn irrigation system and winterize backflow preventers for safety reasons. You can empty your lawn irrigation system, open the backflow preventer device, and blow out the water. If you are unsure how to do this, call us!

The backflow preventer is located outside your home or in the basement. It is usually near the water shutoff valve in a control box near the water meter. To access it, turn the ball valves in the control box to a 45-degree angle. You may need to open the test valves on the backflow preventer to ensure the water drains completely.

You can winterize your lawn irrigation system in cold climates by wrapping the backflow preventer with insulation. Use self-sticking foam insulating tape to cover the backflow preventer, but ensure that you don’t obstruct drain outlets or air vents.

Drain leftover water

Before winter sets in, it’s essential to drain leftover water from your lawn irrigation system. The cold weather can cause these pipes to freeze and crack, so you should drain them before freezing temperatures begin. You can also use insulating tape or plastic bags to prevent freezing and bursting. But remember, this is a potentially dangerous task that should be done by an irrigation professional. You should also wear protective gear, such as eye and hand protection.

Several ways to winterize your lawn irrigation system include manually draining it or automatically turning off the water supply. Manual draining is preferred if your system has manual drain valves on low points. In addition, you should open the boiler drain valve to drain any remaining water.

You can also use an air compressor to empty the water from your irrigation system. If you don’t have one, you can use the hose spigot to disconnect the water supply. If the water supply is not shut off, you can use a wet/dry shop vac to remove the remaining water. Close the manual drain valves.

Book your Winterization Service Today

Protect the main shut-off valve

Before winter sets in, ensure the main shut-off valve is protected from freezing. The valve should be wrapped in insulating foam or sealed with plastic. You can purchase this at your local home improvement store. This will prevent water from freezing and avoid damage to the valve.

You can also protect the valve by wrapping it in a heavy plastic bag. The main shut-off valve is usually located near the main water meter and should be protected from freezing. You can either install a valve inside a heated room, bury it below the frost line near the water meter, or mount it outdoors above ground.

If your lawn irrigation system has a main shut-off valve, you must winterize it to prevent freezing. You can also cover other valves to avoid condensation. Make sure the valve is insulated and that all above-ground piping is insulated. The backflow prevention device should also be drained and insulated.

Are you looking for professional irrigation sprinkler winterization and de-winterization services near you?

Waterworks Irrigation provides holistic assistance in effectively draining and winterizing irrigation sprinkler systems, whether a pesky leak plagues your system, a needed complete overhaul, or needs to be adequately drained and winterized for the season.

Get in touch with us today to get started – we promise you won’t regret it!

How to Winterize your Irrigation Sprinkler System?

Posted on August 11, 2021September 5, 2023

How to Winterize your Irrigation Sprinkler System?

When spring is gone for good and a chill begins to encroach the air, you know that winter is inevitably on its way! And if you are familiar with the kind of damage winter does to outdoor equipment, you would not want to wait till it freezes your most priced assets, namely, your irrigation sprinkler system!
While your sprinklers keep the lawns and gardens green and watered throughout the summer easily, they do require a thorough preparatory routine to be turned off, once their seasonal purpose is served. A poorly maintained irrigation system can damage the pipes and cost you a fortune on the repairs later.
You can save yourself from paying a hefty cost on repairs by winterizing your irrigation sprinkler system today!

Why you should consider the winterization of your Sprinkler system?

The low winter temperatures can be harsh on sprinkler equipment if they are not well maintained and drained of all excess water beforehand. As it freezes, any leftover water can expand and cause significant damage to the sprinkler heads, pipes, and valves in the system. The sheer cost of the potential damage is certainly enough of a deterrent to make you take precautionary care before the winter arrives, if you haven’t already done so!
Winterization and de-winterization of your sprinklers systems can be done on your own if you have the experience and the required expertise. But if you are new to sprinkler systems, you can always seek the assistance of a professional winterization and irrigation equipment specialists.

How do I Winterize my Sprinklers?

If you are pretty hands-on with your equipment, you can winterize your sprinklers the D.I.Y way!
A few steps can help you prep your sprinklers before frost sets in:
The very step is to close off all the water supply to the pipes and pumps of your sprinklers and protect them with plastic covers or insulation tapes.
Once done, you can now shut down all programmed and automatic timers or controllers, if any. Switch them on to ‘Rain mode’.
Lastly, drain all excess leftover water and keep your valves, pipes, and sprinkler heads completely dry.
Once the procedure is complete, you can wait till next summer to de-winterize your sprinklers back to their full functionality.

Ways to Drain Your Sprinklers Effectively

Draining is an essential process of the winterization process. All the pipes, valves and pumps in all the zones of your irrigation sprinkler system must be thoroughly drained of all surplus water and kept completely dry before it is shut down for the winter.
There are three widely used methods to drain the water from the sprinklers:
Manual Draining
Automatic Draining
Air Blowout Method
All these methods ensure effective draining of water from your irrigation sprinkler systems and can be opted for depending on the type of system you have in place. Take a look and find out which one suits your system the best!

Manual Draining method

If your sprinkler system has manual drainage equipment, all that needs to be done to drain the water is to open the valves of each zone so the water inside drains away completely.
Once all the sprinkler heads, pipes, and backflow preventers are successfully drained, you can close all the valves to avoid further water entry into the system.

Automatic draining Method

With this method, the primary step is to shut off the main water supply and allow the pressure to subside while the water flows out of the system.
Ensure that all the sprinkler heads and the backflow valve are individually lifted and drained of any remaining water. Follow this process for all zones and close off all pipes to prevent rainwater from entering during the winter.

Air blowout method

This method is not one you should try without any guidance or supervision from a professional. The air blowout method blows out the moisture or water inside your system with the use of compressed air forced into the pipes and pumps. The force of the air within helps discharge and effectively drain off all the water and facilitate a dry system. This method needs to be followed in all the zones consistently for the desired results.
However, if you want to go the D.I.Y route, a good air compressor and a coupler may come in handy. This method of draining may not be advisable for all sorts of irrigation systems. It holds a risk of damaging your sprinkler system to an extensive degree. If the procedure is not performed with care, it could even lead to injury for the person involved.
Considering its technical difficulty and expertise required, we recommend you use a skilled and experienced professional to drain your pipes for you without any risks.

Are you looking for professional irrigation sprinkler winterization and de-winterization services near you?
At Waterworks, we provide holistic assistance in effective draining and winterization of irrigation sprinkler systems of all kinds.
Get in touch with us to get your sprinklers restored to the best working condition!

How can lighting transform your Victoria yard?

Posted on March 15, 2021August 29, 2025

Victoria Landscape Lighting

More and more people are turning to creating backyard spaces they can enjoy and spend time in with their families. As we move into Spring, and Summer, and even Fall, being able to enjoy our outdoor spaces requires the right lighting.

Lighting

Landscape Lighting is not just a few lights here and there. A well designed lighting plan can be a worthwhile investment. Landscape lighting can enable you to use your outdoor space after dark, illuminating seating areas and creating a pleasant and inviting space. With the right lighting you will notice a much more enjoyable ambiance.

Well designed lighting for Victoria Residences

A well designed lighting can help showcase your outdoor space, enhancing landscaped areas and architecture by using light like an art display. Splashes of light create accents and moods, create shadows and highlights adding dimension to your space.

Lighting for safety & security

Outdoor house lighting is also good for added safety and security in Victoria. Well planned lighting can illuminate pathways for safer walking and avoiding any hazards. Brightening up certain areas can also help create a safer yard.

Increase home value

Garden lighting can increase the value of your home in Victoria! The right lighting can highlight the best parts of your outdoor space, and show off your maintained and well loved yard. This can be appealing for potential buyers down the road. An inviting home is welcoming to all. Victoria realtors suggest that investing in outdoor living spaces and lighting can be a worthwhile addition to a home.

If you have always wanted to enhance your outdoor living space and enjoy it for even longer, including landscape lighting can add a wealth of benefits! We want to help create your paradise. Connect with us for expert advice and knowledge.

Request a free quote today!

Get a free landscape lighting consultation.