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It's a sad sight when your handyman lifts the top off of your sprinkler box and it is full of water. You likely have a sprinkler valve or fitting leak...and it's leaking 24/7. You will need to troubleshoot the leak and fix it.
Turn the water off at the main and, using a paper cup, start removing as much water as you can. You will have to wait for the rest of the water to be absorbed into the ground. Once the water is gone, turn the water back on and race over to the box to see where the leak is. Then you can turn the water off and go to work. If the leak is at a fitting, you will have to cut the pipes and reglue a new fitting in. This is not easy since the box will be small relative to all the pipes and valves in it. Use PVC primer and glue.
If the leak is caused by a spinkler valve, carefully check where the leak is located. It is often the case that when the valves are initially installed, there are placed so close together that you can't unscrew them from the fittings. This of course is a problem if you have to replace one.
If the leak is coming from the top of a sprinkler valve, don't replace it. Instead, go buy an exact replacement valve, and strip it for the parts. You can unscrew the top half of the valve which will include the diaphram, solonoid and cover, and screw the top onto the old valve body. Essentially you will have a new valve without all the headaches of cutting it off of the old piping and re-gluing it.
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