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image: Nadin Nandin on Unsplash |
The Problem
We've hit that time of the gardening season where the plants and lawn need more water than what the skies provide, so I dragged out the heavy garden hose and our oscillating sprinkler a week ago. I had the sprinkler all placed for full coverage of my area and turned the water on. Imagine my frustration when the 3 left-hand sprinkler nozzles didn't spray a drop. Not one single drop of water came out of those nozzles. I shook my head and shifted the sprinkler enough to get better, but not optimal coverage.
The Temptation vs. The Frugal Mindset
You know, we place an online order just about every week. It's just so easy. You think of a thing you need, then add it to your order. Even if I'm not placing the order, I often put items in my "cart" to add to a later order. I had a thought to put a new sprinkler into my Home Depot shopping cart that afternoon. But my gut instinct told me I should first see if I could fix the problem.
The Simple Fix
You will not believe this, but all it took was a safety pin and 60 seconds. Evidently there was rust or grit blocking those three little holes. I poked the point of the safety pin into the first two holes, and I could feel the pin penetrating the blockage I wiggled the pin to widen the openings and improve water flow. The final hole took a bit of pressure combined with the wiggling, but, ultimately, it cleared as well. Like I said, this took less than a minute. As I cleared each hole, it was so incredibly satisfying to see that I was "repairing" my sprinkler.
Victory
Turning the faucet back on, I watched to see if the water was spurting freely from all of the holes. What I saw was a full, beautiful, perfect curtain of water rain down on my plants.
Care about the small things. When we repair even the smaller everyday items we own, we gain self-reliance, we keep stuff out of the landfill, and we conserve raw materials and energy used in a replacement item's production. It isn't just about saving 20 bucks. It's a refusal to participate in the throwaway culture of our time.
It took me less than five minutes and cost absolutely nothing, but seeing that sprinkler work perfectly felt like a major victory. Your Turn: What is the last tiny thing you repaired, maintained, or un-clogged around your home or garden instead of replacing? Let’s celebrate our small maintenance wins in the comments!
I have had the same sprinkler for 20? years. I have had holes clog and can get them open with a vinegar soak (like I do for my shower a couple times a year.) Unfortunately mine has stopped oscillating and I am looking into that.
ReplyDeleteHi Amy,
DeleteGreat job! I've read that a vinegar soak works well, too.
We have a non-oscillating, oscillating sprinkler here, too. (It used to oscillate.)You know what we use that one for? Watering a long hedge in mid-summer. It's great for focused watering in a line. If I ever figure out how to fix the non-oscillating aspect, I'll let you know. Have you tried something like WD-40 sprayed on the pivot points?
That's a great win! Was the buildup due to minerals in your water? I sometimes (not as often as I should) do the vinegar-and-water-in-a-bag trick, attaching it to my showerhead, to break up the yuck. We get a lot of mineral build-up in our water.
ReplyDeleteI think that trying to repair/refurbish is second nature to a lot of us frugalistas. My brain defaults to "can I fix this" vs buying new most of the time. I've done minor repairs on my dishwasher and washing machine many a time over the years. When we got to the point where we needed to buy new appliances, I tried to do my homework on the best options. I'd rather pay more up-front and have things last. That being said, it can be really hard to make good purchases. The reviews are often all over the place, as are the professional ratings websites.