GDOT: Turn Off Sprinkler Systems Overnight

With overnight temperatures headed below freezing over the next couple of days, the Georgia Department of Transportation wants to issue an important reminder to those who have sprinkler systems.

“If they have the automatic timers on them, that can create some avoidable problems,” said Georgia Department of Transportation Spokesperson Katie Strickland. “If there is any way that you can turn them off or make sure you drain your system and just not have them on because it can create black ice, that thin sheet of ice that is right on top of the asphalt, which is very dangerous for drivers.”

The DOT said every year, it sees traffic incidents caused by icy spots formed when water from sprinklers creeps onto the roadway.

At the same time, the agency said motorists need to be aware that if they see a place that is wet on the roadway with temperatures below freezing, they need to be alert to the fact that it could be black ice.

Black ice can form at any time, especially on bridges, overpasses, and low lying areas, when temperatures drop below freezing and there is any form of moisture from sprinklers, run-off, precipitation, or elsewhere on the roadway.

Strickland said that people can turn their sprinklers back on to use them once the temperatures climb back above freezing during the day, provided they remember to just leave them off and not running at all overnight when temperatures are coldest.