Leaking water line

[coffeeman]

I have city water running from street to house. The line on my side of meter is 900 feet long. Last quarter my bill was about $400 more than normal. As is sometime, the problem comes up in almost winter and line goes thru weeds woods etc. In addition I have idea where line is within limits. Last leak I had, I was lucky; an easily spotable wet spot was found in about 10 minutes. This time no luck. I don't have any shut off points to determine if sections of line are good. My thought, when installing line, was it's just more joints to leak. Might have been a good idea. Any ideas on finding leak??

Cheers....Coffeeman

 

[mmurphy]

Plastic line is hard to do, metal lines can be checked by a leak detector. Your local water department may have someone that they possibly use, do not know what the cost would be though.

Look for possible thawed spots when frosts at night time if you are in cold region, or in daytime.

 

[Thomas]

Would your water meter be located in your home? and if I got this right??? wouldn't be up to city to find the leak to meter.."Last quarter my bill was about $400 more than normal"

 

[greasemonkeyok]

I betcha the meter is out by the public road so the meter readers can come by and read it each month.

 

[Kays Supply]

In the past I have had to repair problems like this. I went half way and dug down and installed a valve. Recheck meter. If it is leaking go towards the meter and split the difference again. Keep going until you find the leak or have a section that is clear enough to just dig from the valve towards the leak until you find it. Or start from scratch and replace it all.

 

[jinjimbob]

The water depts use listening devices to detect the leak points, pretty spendy.

 

[Western]

This happened to me twice while in town.

1st time it was a faulty meter, not common, but city changed it for free.

2nd time unable to locate the leak, installed a pressure gauge at house water supply (main), shut of city meter valve. Pressure remained.

I found a leak on a small line to the kitchen, where the water was running down the pipe which made it difficult to see. Thank goodness it was pier and beam.

The small pressure gauge at least allowed me to locate one side or the other. 900 ft , I think I would start at the middle.

 

[coffeeman]

Thanks all

The water bill is on my side of line; after meter at curb. I like splitting line and eliminating 1/2 the line. Also like frost melting idea. I did find a puddle that might have been rain water or leak. Someone suggested I test for chlorine. Went pool store and they said no chlorine. Water comapny had no listening device. I wonder if they can be rented or bought reasonably. If I could find leak that would be good .. However I think replacing whole line later might be smart. Who knows though. It's cold, raining, snowing etc. + water bill will eat me up. If it wasn't Christmas might be a good time to go to Fla for a couple months.

Cheers......Coffeeman

This happened to me twice while in town.

1st time it was a faulty meter, not common, but city changed it for free.

2nd time unable to locate the leak, installed a pressure gauge at house water supply (main), shut of city meter valve. Pressure remained.

I found a leak on a small line to the kitchen, where the water was running down the pipe which made it difficult to see. Thank goodness it was pier and beam.

The small pressure gauge at least allowed me to locate one side or the other. 900 ft , I think I would start at the middle.

 

[Egon]

However I think replacing whole line later might be smart.

After the second leak that is a thought!:thumbsup:

 

[heehaw]

put an adapter on a outside faucet an air the line up to about 100psi, higher if possible..then you can walk down the line an hear a leak...especially after the water is out an air is escaping.. shut off lines in the house to keep from over pressuring them
heehaw

 

[Kays Supply]

The last post reminded me of a similar situation. I had a line several thousand feet long with a leak. I cut it in half and aired it up like he said. The side that held air I left the air in. The side that wouldn't I left the valve closed on both ends. It was a sloppy day like this time of year. I opened the ball valve on the good side and it looked like a volcano when the air hit the bad spot. It turned out the delivery guy had dumped the load off the front of his truck and split a bell end on one pipe. He finally confessed when I raised **** with my supplier about the bad pipe.

 

[picker77]

Haven't tried it myself but I'm told that a push-in plastic liner can be installed inside the existing metal feeder pipe and sealed at each end. People claim it works fine, and MUCH cheaper than digging up and replacing the old line. Some plumbing outfits specialize in this type of repair.

 

[dex3361]

There is a device that will allow you to pull a new line through your old pipe. You fish a cable through your old pipe and on the end of the cable there is a cutting head that the new pipe attaches to. the when you pull the cable through the pipe it splits the old pipe and allows room for the new pipe to be pulled through. You use a back hoe to pull with. Here is a link to USA BLUEBOOK too clarify what I am talking about.

 

[coffeeman]

There is a device that will allow you to pull a new line through your old pipe. You fish a cable through your old pipe and on the end of the cable there is a cutting head that the new pipe attaches to. the when you pull the cable through the pipe it splits the old pipe and allows room for the new pipe to be pulled through. You use a back hoe to pull with. Here is a link to USA BLUEBOOK too clarify what I am talking about.

I like this idea!

Thanks Coffeeman

 

[dex3361]

I like this idea!

Thanks Coffeeman

Your welcome.

 

[coffeeman]

put an adapter on a outside faucet an air the line up to about 100psi, higher if possible..then you can walk down the line an hear a leak...especially after the water is out an air is escaping.. shut off lines in the house to keep from over pressuring them
heehaw

Like this idea too. My plumber suggested shutting water of then back on. He mentioned sometime the leak can be heard. The air in line might be way
better.

By the way, I have a Case back hoe. AS things go, the engine is shot and I'm looking for another engine. So if I need to replace line I gotta hire a hoe and do the work quickly as costs mount with time on hoe that's rented.

Thanks....Coffeeman

 

[Kays Supply]

This puller idea interests me also. I have done a home grown version on short pieces, like under an air conditioner pad or drive way, but never a total replacement. I just recently got an old metal lathe. I'm not good enough to make anything with close tolerances, but one of these heads might be within my ability.

 

[coffeeman]

There is a device that will allow you to pull a new line through your old pipe. You fish a cable through your old pipe and on the end of the cable there is a cutting head that the new pipe attaches to. the when you pull the cable through the pipe it splits the old pipe and allows room for the new pipe to be pulled through. You use a back hoe to pull with. Here is a link to USA BLUEBOOK too clarify what I am talking about.

Just checked out USA BLUEBOOK. It looks like a good idea. My problem is it's a 1000+ feet of line that I have. Looks like the kit is just 100 feet of cable. Still an interesting idea.

Cheers...Coffeeman

 

[DanD78]

Are you shure it's a leak and not a bad meter? There should be a little white tell tale dial on the meter face that will spin if there is flow. You might take a look at that.

Dan