You cannot find the valves at all

What has gone wrong

There is nothing wrong with the system except that you cannot get at it. The valves are under turf with no box, or the box is there but the lid went brittle years ago and the lawn grew over the hole.

This is worth solving properly once. Every repair on this site starts with getting the bonnet off a valve, so a valve you cannot find turns a twenty-minute job into a day, every single time. Find them, box them, and mark them — and the next fault costs you an afternoon less.

Why this happens in Perth

Sand is why they disappear. A valve box in sandy soil settles, turf runs over the edge of the lid, and within a few seasons there is nothing on the surface to see. In heavier soil the box stays put and stays visible for decades.

The other half is how a lot of Perth retic was installed. Systems put in before valve boxes were standard practice were often just buried — valve, wire joints, straight into the ground, backfilled. That was normal, and it is why the house you bought has valves nobody has seen since.

The upside of sand: digging for them is genuinely easy. This is a job that would be miserable in clay and is merely tedious here.

Is this a DIY job?

Yes. Everything below is 24V AC or purely mechanical, which is the part of a reticulation system a homeowner can safely work on.

Four ways to find them, cheapest first

One — listen for it. This is the best method and it costs nothing. Start one station from the controller, then walk the likely ground slowly and listen. A solenoid makes an audible click when it opens, and an open valve makes a distinct rushing noise you can hear through 200mm of sand. On a quiet morning it is surprisingly loud. Put a marker flag or a stick wherever you hear it, then do the next station.

If the neighbourhood is noisy, kneel and put an ear near the ground, or hold a long screwdriver against the ground and your ear to the handle. That works better than it has any right to.

Two — think about where they would be. Valves are not scattered at random. They are nearly always:

• grouped together, often three or four in a row, rather than one per station spread around the yard;
• near the water meter, the tap the system runs off, or the bore;
• along the edge of a garden bed, a fence line or a path, because that is where the trench went;
• close to the controller, if the controller is outside.

Three — follow the pipe. Find where the reticulation leaves the tap or the meter and dig a small hole to expose the pipe. Then work along it. The first valve is usually not far, and once you find one the rest are generally within a metre or two of it.

Four — probe rather than dig. Push a long screwdriver or a thin steel rod straight down every 150mm across the suspect area. A valve or a box lid is a hard flat surface at a consistent depth and it feels completely different to soil. This does no damage to the lawn and it is far quicker than trenching. Be firm but not violent — you can put a rod through a poly pipe if you really try.

A metal detector sometimes picks up the solenoid's plunger and spring, but the body and box are plastic and it will also find every nail, tent peg and bottle top in the yard. Try it if you have one; do not buy one for this.

Once you have found them

1. Dig out enough room to work. You want to be able to get the bonnet off and both hands in, not just see the top of it.
2. Put a box on it. A standard rectangular valve box and lid is cheap and it is the entire point of this exercise. If two or three valves are together, one larger box over the lot is better than three small ones.
3. Set the lid flush with the turf, not proud of it. Proud gets caught by the mower. Below the surface gets grown over again, which is how you got here.
4. Tidy the wiring while it is open. Any joint not made with a gel-filled connector is a future fault — see intermittent stations. Redo them now, while everything is exposed.
5. Write down where they are. Pace it from two fixed things that are not going to move — a corner of the house and a fence post, say. Put the note somewhere findable, or write it inside the controller door in permanent marker. That single line of writing is worth more than everything else on this page.

When to stop looking and pay somebody

If you have spent an hour listening and probing and found nothing, stop. A reticulation repairer has a valve locator — it energises the solenoid so it chatters, or puts a tone on the wire and traces it from the surface — and it will find them in a fraction of the time.

Be direct about it when you ring: you want a valve locate, you do not have a fault, and you want boxes put on. That is a much smaller job than a diagnosis, and it should be priced like one. Ask for a locate.

What it costs

Finding them yourself: nothing but your morning. The listening method and the probe method are both free.

Valve boxes and lids: genuinely cheap, and the best money spent on the whole system. We have not verified current Perth pricing — HR Products make an Australian-made line that irrigation suppliers here stock. Ring and ask.

Marker flags: a few dollars for a bundle, and worth having while you work through the stations.

A professional locate: we have not verified a rate. Ask for it as a locate rather than a callout, and ask whether fitting boxes is included or extra.

Common questions

How do I find buried reticulation valves?

Start a station from the controller and listen. A solenoid clicks when it opens and an open valve makes a rushing noise you can hear through the ground. Mark the spot and repeat for each station.

Where are retic valves usually located?

Grouped together rather than spread out, and usually near the water meter, the tap the system runs off, the bore, or along the edge of a garden bed or fence line where the trench went.

Can I find reticulation valves with a metal detector?

Sometimes — it may pick up the solenoid’s plunger and spring — but the valve body and box are plastic, and it will find every nail and bottle top as well. Listening works better.