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Water supply line leak finding?

16 years ago

I've confirmed that we have a leak in the water supply line that has developed over the last month or so. Close to a cubic foot per hour ticks by with our main water valve shut off. Here the (looks to be gray PVC)line is buried 18" or so down. The ground is wet everywhere here so nothing shows obvious. Dug down to the pipe on both the meter and house ends. Nothing underneath in the crawlspace either heading to the valve.

How much trauma has to happen for this stuff to leak? Would pear tree roots damage it? We had done gardening 5 or so feet away this summer with a roto tiller. Vibration cause this? The house and line is 15 years old.

My thought is that I would rather repair the line if I could find the damaged area. I've pushed a 1/2 inch metal rod (by hand) near the line to see if water would come up, but no. Any other ideas to locate?

If I can't find the leak, I'll run the new line in a different side of the house as the line was run with the other utilities under the driveway. Ugg!

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Comments (2)

marknmt
16 years ago
Hi Tom. I don't how to find the leak, but I do want to say that if you lay a new line you might consider sleeving it. That gives you the benefit of physical protection, plus you gain a little insulation if that's a factor. But the big plus is that should the new line develop a problem for any reason you can replace it without diggin up the whole durn thing! Or, I know many good workers would insist on a bed of sand or fine gravel for the pipe to lie in.

It's a pretty simple matter to put 2" pvc in the trench and slide the 1" pipe through it. (I've also laid a short, accessible section this way and then filled the sleeve with expandable foam insulation injected via 1/4" holes. I thought this might help against freezing in a crawl space.)

I doubt your rototilling had anything to do with it, and I'd be less surprised if the pear roots hurt it, but with tree roots you just never know. Perhaps, if the tree is large, they've grown under the line and put enough pressure on it to damage a joint. Big roots lift sidewalks, foundations, just about anything.

Here's a thought- the pipe comes in 10 foot sections, so there's probably a joint every 10 feet. Dig around until you find the first joint, and see if it's leaking. If not, repeat 10 feet away, and so on. (And hope the guy laying it wasn't using up spare parts!)

Good luck,

M
tomplum
Original Author
16 years ago
That sounds like good advice. I've done some surfing and from the color and age of pipe it is probably Polybutylene Pipe ? Sounds like it is and should be replaced regardless. Thanks for your tip.
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