Broken Water Line
 

It has recently come to my attention that I have a slow leak somewhere along
my water line. I suspect it is a couple of feet from the meter, due to the
fact that there is a slightly sunken area in the lawn and that the grass is
a slightly different color. The leak meter on the meter turns slowly, even
after the main valve in the house is shut off.

My question is, can this be easily repaired by myself, or is it best to call
someone. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Thanks,

Bob

ROBERT LADD wrote:

It has recently come to my attention that I have a slow leak somewhere along
my water line. I suspect it is a couple of feet from the meter, due to the
fact that there is a slightly sunken area in the lawn and that the grass is
a slightly different color. The leak meter on the meter turns slowly, even
after the main valve in the house is shut off.

My question is, can this be easily repaired by myself, or is it best to call
someone. I'm leaning towards the latter.


How easy depends on what the line is...you should certainly be able to
dig up the area and see what you gots...

Nobody can really say, if it is a pinhole leak a pipe clamp may work,
perhaps a wrench was used in that area long ago thinning-gouging the
pipe. Or it could all be about to go as it is old and deteriorated. Dig
it up and see.

Bob,

Its going to be a hassle for you to dig up your yard amongst tree roots
(?) / rocks / clay (?) etc... , get the village water dept to come out
and shut off your water at the street, you make the repair (solder ??) ,
have the water dept come back to turn it on, maybe it will still
leak...etc.... In my opinion, some jobs are best left to contractors
who have the experience , will hopefully do it right the first time, and
give you a written warranty for thier work. Id ask around for a
reliable , honest Plumbing Company.

you don't have to call the water dept , turn the main off yourself.u only call
them if your shut off for no pay. Anyways , dig up the area u think is your
leak , when u find leak, if it's pvc Smile cause the rest will be a breeze. if
you find copper hmmm just find your leak first

Playintennis5274 wrote:

you don't have to call the water dept , turn the main off yourself.u only call
them if your shut off for no pay. Anyways , dig up the area u think is your
leak , when u find leak, if it's pvc Smile cause the rest will be a breeze. if
you find copper hmmm just find your leak first

HIGHLY unlikely to be copper...I'm betting on rusted out galvanized...

Call a plumber.
They are expensive.
On the other hand, they are a good value for your problem.
I'd suggest an investigation of the problem as a start.
I'd expect to replace the entire line.
TB

How old is the house?


"ROBERT LADD" wrote in message
news:RG3xd.240$h.108@trnddc04...
It has recently come to my attention that I have a slow leak somewhere
along my water line. I suspect it is a couple of feet from the meter, due
to the fact that there is a slightly sunken area in the lawn and that the
grass is a slightly different color. The leak meter on the meter turns
slowly, even after the main valve in the house is shut off.

My question is, can this be easily repaired by myself, or is it best to
call someone. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Thanks,

Bob

"Art" wrote in message
nk.net...
How old is the house?


30 years old.

ROBERT LADD wrote:

"Art" wrote in message
nk.net...
How old is the house?


30 years old.

Yep, sounds like galvanized and you'll almost certainly (as someone else
noted) need the line replaced...problem is, when you try to
repair/replace one joint, the joints are so corroded often one can't
break them apart w/o tearing up the next pipe section too. Plus, if
there's a leak in one place, there's bound to be more in the future.

I'd suggest finding the leak if you can and see for sure what it is...if
it is galvanized, I'd probably call a service and plan on replacing the
whole feed line w/ plastic and not even bother to repair the
existing...simply dig the trench and lay new line beside the existing
and cut if off and abondon it in place...