Finding An Underground Water Leak

[DonIvey]

We've discovered we have an underground water leak between the meter near the street and the house. Any suggestions on how to locate it without just starting to dig? About ten feet of the run is under the sidewalk/driveway. Any help appreciated.

Don Ivey
Smithfield, NC

 

[Rookie2]

Apply air pressure from the house side. The air will surface and bring water up to the surface. unless it's all frozen.

before the pressure regulator, might have to remove the regulator and make an adapter to your air compressor.

 

[pattenp]

Acoustic Leak Detection
http://www.subsurfaceleak.com/find_leaks.html

 

[DangerousDan55]

Can you see any water that is moving. You may sprinkle some baby powder & watch for the movement. Keep re checking "up stream" until you see a flow change. You should be close. Still will require a good size dig.

 

[25twin]

Look where the water line enters the house. Frost heaving or settling soil will often cause a leak in this area.

 

[DIC]

 

[Lippyp]

The water company guys here still use a long metal rod with an ear piece on the end to listen for leaks. Its like the old trick of putting a long screwdriver on an engine and your ear to the handle to identify a noise.

 

[HoosierMark]

I had a similar leak this summer. The local water company sent a guy out with a listening probe. It picked up sound under ground. We knew in general where the line was and then he moved back and forth across it until the sound was the loudest. If I remember right he put the probe in to the ground but I cannot remember how deep but it was by hand. Sure enough when we dug down about 4 feet there it was. Of course as you dig the ground became wetter. So talk to the water people, they deal with this stuff all the time.

 

[JakeKohl]

Also makes some decisions based on the age and type of supply line you have. In my case, I had a 65 year old black pipe supply line running from the meter. Once I figured that out, I replaced the whole thing and found about 6 different tiny leaks along the way. It would have been an endless series of leaks if I hand't just replaced it all.

 

[blackdart66]

Also makes some decisions based on the age and type of supply line you have. In my case, I had a 65 year old black pipe supply line running from the meter. Once I figured that out, I replaced the whole thing and found about 6 different tiny leaks along the way. It would have been an endless series of leaks if I hand't just replaced it all.

I agree ! This is very good advice ! I had to do the same thing once on an acreage I owned. Water never surfaced but the pump never shut off. I can tell you that running a well pump 24/7 will drive the ole electric bill up significantly.

Plumber said it looked like it was galvanized pipe and said we would be better off just putting in a new line rather than paying him to find a leak. again again and again.

 

[DonIvey]

Thanks for all the great info and suggestions. I'm better prepared to move forward, starting with some of the advice given, and I do appreciate it.

 

[JakeKohl]

Oh, yeah...my pipe was galvanized pipe too (it was just black by the time I got to replacing it)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[thoraudio]

I have, unfortunately, dealt with this problem many times, because of the idiot who put in my water line (it was me).

Coat hanger, or similarly long, thin piece of metal. Walk the line, poke it in the ground, like you're checking a cake with a toothpick.

In my situation, the leak area was significantly softer and wetter than the non leaking areas.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Don, What is the water line made of and how old is it ? Since a section of it is leaking now, how long is the rest of it going to last ? You might just be better off digging all of it up to replace all of it now. You might want to consider it.

 

[Badhabit]

I have seen a man use a piece of tubing with a styrofoam cup attached to it and a stethoscope on the other end. He said it sounded like Niagara falls when he got it pinpointed

 

[volleyball]

Call digsafe and find out where the line is. Then start at the house and dig it all the way to the street. You will be replacing the entire pipe anyway.

My street main was piped with a pipe that was known to split. I went through a half dozen gushers flooding my lawn before they finally ran all new pipe.
When a leak occurred the crew would replace just the split section instead of the whole section. I asked why and they said they liked the OT. When they pulled the pipe in front of my property there were 4 patches in 1 section.

 

[jkwilson]

Get a tile probe and push it down to the pipe. You should feel a softer spot when you get close and may even get water flowing to the surface when you pull the probe.

If it's under the driveway, see if you can find an alternate route into the house and just put in a new line.