Water leak but no visible water

[Adm0525]

Last month my water my water bill doubled. Come home checked the meter and it was moving. From my calculations is leaking almost 20 gallons an hour yet there is no visible water in the yard or in the home.
My water district swears it is a toilet leak and “it’s not that big of a leak” Even though I cannot hear the toilets running. Also we have closed all shut off valves in the house but the meter is still running. I am on a concrete slab but I have spoken with the builder and the line under the house only reaches about three feet. If the water is leaking that much there should be water somewhere?!?

Three plumbers have been out and cannot locate the issue. The water district has been out to confirm it’s not the meter. My home was built in two phases. The new development the water pipes are all in the walls and ceiling. The older development where the water come into the house is where the pipe is under the house then up into the walls.

Thoughts ?

Moved from OT.
admin allisolm

 

[DaWhim]

does it still run if you shut the main valve?

 

[local]

First check what DaWhim said, then recheck your leak rate. 20 gallons an hour is over 14,000 gallons a month. Unless it started leaking on the last couple days of your billing cycle the math does not add up to only doubling your bill. I can see 2.0 gallons per hour and that could easily be absorbed by the ground for quite a while and would be much more accurate for doubling your bill, double check your reading of the meter.

 

[UsandThem]

I had a water leak that I didn't know about for around a month. When AT&T was laying fiber in our neighborhood (using a really crappy local subcontractor) they hit my water line which ran under my driveway. During that month, we had almost drought conditions, so it took the water that whole time to slowly saturate my entire front yard before beginning to appear near my house. I can't remember how much water we ended up losing, but my normal water bill was around $25 per month, and the next month's bill was around $400.

I ended up having to have an entire new water line installed from the road instead of them redoing my driveway. It was an absolute mess, and the crew they hired damaged lots of things in our neighborhood.....from knocking out power to damaging the water line in front of the house next to me (which the city had to come and fix).

The subcontractor was supposed to hang flyers on our doors explaining what they were doing, who they were, and the job reference number. They never did that, and I actually thought it was Google laying their lines. It took about 4 months and $5000 before the subcontractor finally reimbursed me after the AT&T engineers got involved.

 

[Adm0525]

When I turn then main off at the meter it stop. From 11/26 ( the last time the meter was “read” to 12/3 I had gone through 4200 gallons of water.

If I’m reading my meter correctly 3167579....I went through 20 gallons in and hour last night. It is a Sensus meter. The read leak dial goes around once in about 15-20 seconds but the keep telling me the ._ number is hundredths. Everything’s I have found is saying it’s tenths so that 9 turning to a 0would equal 1 gallon.

After much frustration and thoughts of the plumbers we finally convinced the water district to comeback (the refused bc they thought the plumbers should have figure it out by now) out to check to see if meter was faulty. They watched the rate at which the which the last number was turning. The said it is not a “service line” leaks or it would be spinning much faster. Once again the suggested the toilets.

The rate the meter is spinning hasn’t changed except for when we turn the water off at the main. When we turn water back on into obviously goes faster to allow water to fill back into the house . Also we have never lost any water pressure Through the house.

 

[RLGL]

Start diggin, what you waiting for?

 

[UsandThem]

After much frustration and thoughts of the plumbers we finally convinced the water district to comeback (the refused bc they thought the plumbers should have figure it out by now) out to check to see if meter was faulty. They watched the rate at which the which the last number was turning. The said it is not a “service line” leaks or it would be spinning much faster. Once again the suggested the toilets.

You should be able to easily rule out the toilets being the source by shutting of the shut off valves that supply water to them in your bathrooms.

 

[Stopsignhank]

You have a slab leak. This means that you have a leak in the ground between the meter and where it comes up in your house. I was lucky with mine because it was in a hot water line and I was able to feel where the concrete was warm.

 

[BUTCH1]

You have a slab leak. This means that you have a leak in the ground between the meter and where it comes up in your house. I was lucky with mine because it was in a hot water line and I was able to feel where the concrete was warm.

Yikes, just out of curiosity how did you wind up resolving this and how much did it cost?, did they have to jackhammer your slab open to fix it?.

 

[skull]

Yikes, just out of curiosity how did you wind up resolving this and how much did it cost?, did they have to jackhammer your slab open to fix it?.

You can saw cut with a diamond blade on a circular saw and bust it up with a sledge hammer no big deal. I trenched all the way across my basement that way to redo my old busted drain line. I own a gas concrete saw now, that would of been nicer for that but for a small area circular saw works fine.

 

[Adm0525]

You have a slab leak. This means that you have a leak in the ground between the meter and where it comes up in your house. I was lucky with mine because it was in a hot water line and I was able to feel where the concrete was warm.

If the line only reaches three feet under the house when we dug down to find where it went into the house wouldn’t we have found have found water? When we contacted the builder they assured Ian the pipe only went in three feet then into the walls. We dug it out to confirm but no water. We are in the process of putting a shut off on the outside of the house so there is another stop point.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Adam if it was that important you would have taken action.
Posting in this forum is NOT going to solve your problem!
I feel for you if you cannot afford to fix the problem!
But ewhy are you incessantly discussing this? It is leading nowhere......

 

[skull]

If the line only reaches three feet under the house when we dug down to find where it went into the house wouldn’t we have found have found water? When we contacted the builder they assured Ian the pipe only went in three feet then into the walls. We dug it out to confirm but no water. We are in the process of putting a shut off on the outside of the house so there is another stop point.

Theres not a shut off at the meter? How long is the whole line? Must be a slab house since you're saying it only goes 3 foot under the house but I don't understand why you had to call the builder should of been able to measure that. You sure you are shutting off the correct main valve in the house? The main shut off should be right where it comes out of the slab.

 

[Stopsignhank]

Yikes, just out of curiosity how did you wind up resolving this and how much did it cost?, did they have to jackhammer your slab open to fix it?.

This was 25 years ago so I can't remember how it was done. I do know it was under the counter in the bathroom so we had to pull that before the plumber could go in and do what he did. They did have to go through the concrete of the slab to get it. I put in an insurance claim so it only cost me the deductible.

Adam, You need to hire a leak detection service. They will come out and find where your leak is.

 

[Adm0525]

Adam if it was that important you would have taken action.
Posting in this forum is NOT going to solve your problem!
I feel for you if you cannot afford to fix the problem!
But ewhy are you incessantly discussing this? It is leading nowhere......

ITs actually Amanda and I am single mom who feels she is getting taken advantage of by the services that I have called out and paid to have no answers. So I was kindly reaching to maybe get some ideas from people who have been through this. At this point I am looking at all options and still having people come and try to help resolve the issues. Please do not throw stones when you are not fully aware of the situation!

 

[Adm0525]

This was 25 years ago so I can't remember how it was done. I do know it was under the counter in the bathroom so we had to pull that before the plumber could go in and do what he did. They did have to go through the concrete of the slab to get it. I put in an insurance claim so it only cost me the deductible.

Adam, You need to hire a leak detection service. They will come out and find where your leak is.

My insurance is supposed to be helping me next week with more people who can come out since we have hit dead ends all the way around.

 

[Adm0525]

Theres not a shut off at the meter? How long is the whole line? Must be a slab house since you're saying it only goes 3 foot under the house but I don't understand why you had to call the builder should of been able to measure that. You sure you are shutting off the correct main valve in the house? The main shut off should be right where it comes out of the slab.

There is a shut off at the meter just not one at The house they are putting one in to try and eliminate spots. Plus I need one at the house. The line runs maybe 100 feet from the meter to the home. I live in the country.

 

[skull]

By code there should be a main shut off as soon as it enters the house.

 

[skull]

Adam if it was that important you would have taken action.
Posting in this forum is NOT going to solve your problem!
I feel for you if you cannot afford to fix the problem!
But ewhy are you incessantly discussing this? It is leading nowhere......

What the fuck is your problem? You've never sought advice about an issue?

 

[snoopy7548]

Do you have a sprinkler system? Check that all the outdoor hose bibs aren't leaking?

 

[kn51]

Also don't trust shut-offs. The egg-shaped ones you see on toilets and sinks are about the biggest pieces of crap made by man.

 

[skyking]

Hello, you mentioned a new shutoff you installed where the water comes in the house. When you turn that one off the meter stops?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wait is the meter BEFORE the line that feeds the house? How does that work, where is the meter in a manhole? Normally water meters are in the basement where the line comes in from the slab. We don't actually have water meters here for houses, only for businesses though but the ones I've seen are after the main feed.

Best bet is to just start isolating by shutting off valves. If you indeed have any water lines after the meter that are outside/underground, it could be a broken line from frost etc. Frost is a weird thing, you can go years without a problem then suddenly a line just decides to freeze.

 

[BoomerD]

Wait is the meter BEFORE the line that feeds the house? How does that work, where is the meter in a manhole? Normally water meters are in the basement where the line comes in from the slab. We don't actually have water meters here for houses, only for businesses though but the ones I've seen are after the main feed.

Best bet is to just start isolating by shutting off valves. If you indeed have any water lines after the meter that are outside/underground, it could be a broken line from frost etc. Frost is a weird thing, you can go years without a problem then suddenly a line just decides to freeze.

Only in the great frozen north. In civilized places, the meter is close to the street...

 

[Iron Woode]

Only in the great frozen north. In civilized places, the meter is close to the street...

Water meters here are normally inside the building.