Leak Tips

In most cases the water line running to your home is “metered” for accountability and billing purposes. A leak on your line can be very costly. Yet, even a very small leak can be found through trying a few simple techniques and can save you from a nasty surprise from your local utility company. If you have been notified that you have a leak, here are a few steps you can do before calling a plumber. The more you do, the less it will cost you in the long run!

Hot Water Tanks

Check the Pressure Relief Valve on the hot water tank. Sometimes these valves are plumbed directly into a drain and may be leaking without your knowledge. If you can’t remove the drain pipe to check for a leak listen for a hissing sound, it may be leaking.

Toilet

• If nothing is noticeable, add some food coloring and put a couple of drops in the tank (not the bowl). Wait several minutes and if you have coloring in the bowl, you have a leak in the flapper at the bottom of the tank that is allowing water to seep through. At this point you can assess if you want to do the repair yourself, or call a plumber.
• If you have more toilets, go ahead and repeat the process with each toilet to make sure you don’t have more than one problem.

Meter Line

If the toilets are fine, check the line running from the meter to the house . While this may sound difficult, you can save money if you can locate the leak for the plumber.

• If you know you have a shut-off valve by the house, shut it off temporarily and check the meter by removing the lid and watching the dial on top of the meter.
• If you can’t see the meter head, try digging around because they sometimes have dirt or grass covering the top of them. Once you locate it and the valve is turned off by the house, watch the meter to see if is turning. If it is still turning, then the leak is between the meter and the house.
• At this point, walk the area between the meter and the shut-off valve. Look for signs of a leak such as: soft muddy areas, grass that is greener than the rest or growing much faster than other areas. If you see such an obvious sign, call the plumber or assess if you can make a repair yourself.

Hose Bibs

• Once you have located them, take a screwdriver, preferably one long enough to give yourself room to work, and put the metal tip of the screwdriver directly on the metal part of the hose-bib. Put your thumb knuckle on the top of the screwdriver, and then place your knuckle on the side of your head, immediately in front of your ear. The sound will travel directly to your ear drum. The idea, here, is for the solid screwdriver to work like a stethoscope. This works for most metal valves, as well.
• Listen carefully for any sound emitting from the hose-bib. If you hear anything at all, remember where it is (perhaps mark it with chalk), and go to the next one. If the sound emitted gets louder at any of the other hose-bibs, then the leak is closer to that particular unit. Note that and contact your plumber: Giving the plumber this information will save the plumber loads of time in  finding the leak, which in turn saves you money.
• If you survey all the hose-bibs and still find no sound, go into the house and follow the same process with the screwdriver on your house fittings such as faucets in sinks, shower valves, washer, hot water heater (be careful to avoid being scalded when working around the hot water heater). If you are still not sure, just contact the plumber.

Other Leaks

Check the hose condition

Check the shower head for leaks. It should be a fairly straightforward home repair if this is a source of leaking.

Near Enough is Helpful

Recognize that in many cases a leak can be very hard to locate. Not all of the leaks outlined in this article can be located and if you’re not used to plumbing positioning, you may miss something easily. All the same, if you try these steps, you should be able to find an approximate location and this is a most valuable exercise in itself because it will help the plumber (many plumbers do not like searching for a problem so anything you can Do they will appreciate), making it time saving for the plumber and that translates into savings for you.

Warnings

• Very important! If you do find the leak and decide to try and dig it up please make sure you call your other utilities and ask them to mark their  utilities on the property! Most states in the U.S. have a utility locate  center just for this purpose.
• Never dig  without the proper locate as it very dangerous and can cause you physical  harm, as well as financial. If you are not sure, always call the expert,  your local plumber!
• If you  suspect the offending leak may be in the water heater, call an expert.  Don’t stick a screwdriver in there. You may cross wires or puncture the  tank.
• If you  plan on fixing a leak in your toilets yourself ask what the age of the  house is before you work? You might discover that fixing one leak causes  another one or five because of old gasgets, washers and rubber?