On 14 Nov 2005 09:18:55 -0800, "
wrote:

:I live in a house with a small front yard. The main water line and
:meter is at the curb, the water enters the house at the front corner of
:the house. It can be shut off there also. If I shut off the water
:entering the house, I am still using 10 gal/hr of water according to
:the meter, so there must be a leak in the line in the front yard
:somewhere. There is a big tree in the middle of the lawn, so I am
:suspecting some roots have broke the line, but am not sure. There are
:no soggy spots anywhere in the front yard. Anyone know of any ways to
:trace the line short of digging up the whole lawn?? I don't know what
:direction it runs from the meter to the house, how deep it is, whether
:it is plastic or copper.

Since that tree is probably the culprit you might want to dig it up. In
the process you might find the leak.