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
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
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?
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...
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