Head to the main valve and turn the water supply off at the source. This will prevent more water from entering the system so that all you need to do is drain the water already inside.


The shut off valve for your sprinkler system should be located in an area that will not be able to freeze over. Oftentimes, the valve will be located inside, in a basement, garage, or utility closet.
In some cases, a stop and waste valve will be located underground. It can be as deep as 5 feet (1.5 m) down, so you may need a long key to turn it.
 These valves should be located at the end points and low points of your sprinkler system's piping. After opening the valves, the water in the mainline of the system should drain out on its own.
 After the mainline finishes draining, open either the boiler drain valve or the drain cap on the stop and waste valve. Open all the test cocks on the backflow device, as well.


Your system will either have a boiler drain valve or a drain cap on a stop and waste valve. It will not have both. The option it does have will vary depending on which option is used in your area, so you can check with neighbors or a local professional to find out which you can expect to find.
 If the sprinklers in your system have check valves, you will need to pull up on the sprinklers so that the water can drain out of the bottom of the sprinkler head.


Most sprinklers will have check valves. If yours does not, however, you will need to hope that the water can completely drain out of the other valves along the system instead.
 If the location of your drain valves are not positioned well, there could be some water remaining in the backflow, piping, or sprinklers even after you complete this method.


If you want to get at any remaining, trace amounts of water, you could try to suck the water out with a wet/dry shop vac.
 It may take several minutes for the water to completely drain out of the backflow, piping, and sprinklers. Once the water finishes draining, you should close all the drain valves you opened previously.
Shut off the water supply.
Open the manual drain valves.
Drain the remaining water between the shut off valve and backflow device.
Pull up on the sprinklers.
Watch out for excess water.
Close the manual drain valves after draining the water.
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