Water from under concrete driveway (pools, air conditioning, tank, drain)

[indian73]

I have small watr ozzing out of my concrete driveway even when it is not raining or when my sprinkler has not run.
It is at several places in small amounts and its almost always mixed with rust.
What can this be? Is it a BIG problem or something minor that can be fixed?

Also on the other side of the house, we see water running out of a spout that is in my neighbours' property. My neighbour has a pool, so i am not sure if the water coming out of that spout is from my side of property or theirs.

I live in Katy, TX(Houston Area).

[GregW]

Sounds like you have a very high water table or a leak in the water supply pipe. The rust may be from the presumed supply pipe or, most likely, the reinforcing bar in your concrete driveway. In either case the first step is to find the source of the water. A friend of mine had a steady stream of water draining down his drive until he connected the up hill curtain drain.

[jamesandveybe]

Septic tank or water table. If it stinks, septic. But filtering through the ground like that, it might be septic and not stink anymore. Get a soil inspector out there.

[Barking Spider]

Do you know if your main water line runs under the driveway?
Where is the water meter (that box in the front yard) in relation to the driveway?
Do you know where your main water shut off is located in relation to the garage or driveway?
Do the sprinkler lines run under the driveway?

Is the water coming out of the expansion joints in the driveway, or just random places? Does the water flow change?

If it is just a small amount, you probably wouldn't notice a change in the water meter with everything OFF in the house. IF you have a leak, the meter will move, so you can tell the main water line is leaking.

How old is the house? Do you have galvanized pipes?

I would kind of rule out septic, since a tank and drain field is not likely under the driveway, and if there was a problem, you would probably see wet ground on the edge of the driveway, AND IT WOULD STINK!

You could be seeing a condensate pipe from your neighbors air conditioning unit draining, or a sump pump termination. If the pipe is 3/4" plastic, it is probably a condensate drain, if it is larger, it may be a drain from the pool equipment or a sump pump.

A little more info would help.

[harry chickpea]

"I have small watr ozzing out of my concrete driveway even when it is not raining or when my sprinkler has not run.
It is at several places in small amounts and its almost always mixed with rust.
What can this be? Is it a BIG problem or something minor that can be fixed?"

Depends. A leaky pipe can excavate a pocket in the soil that eventually becomes a sinkhole. Your driveway COULD collapse into such a hole when you drive on it. It needs to be fixed. Since there is rust, I'd first find a friend with a metal detector to try to find where any iron pipe starts under and exits the driveway. (The rebar in the concrete will confuse the signal.) If I had to guess, the iron isn't coming from an iron pipe though. You probably have a plastic irrigation pipe that has cracked or split a joint. The water pools under the concrete and corrodes the rebar or mesh reinforcement, then oozes out from underneath over time, due to the weight of the concrete compacting the moist soil.

If that is the case, a call to a sprinkler repair company is in order.

[KittySkyfish]

Has this been going on long enough to reflect in your water bill? Can you see activity in your water meter when all known sources are shut off?

[indian73]

First off, I was too busy with my new born hence could not reply earlier.
To answer your questions and provide more information.

The house is made in 2006.
We do have a sprinkler, but don't know if there is a pipe underneath, I am pretty sure there is.

The water meter is on the opposite side of the driveway.
The Water oozzes out at random places, not just at one place.
The driveway has a slope hence it is hard to tell if the direction of the water changes.

The other water that I see, is on the opposite side of the property. The pipe is MUCH bigger than 3/4" inches. Probably more like 4-5 inches. My neighbour does have a pool.
I do not have any friends with metal detectors, hence anything I need to get done will cost me an arm and leg.
Please advise me what I should start with first and how do I go about getting this fixed.

PS : The water leak on the driveway is not massive, it is in small amounts. The only reason I even noticed it is because small sections of driveway are wet even when the sprinkler system has not run in days and there has been no rain.

[Barking Spider]

A larger pipe is either a downspout drain or a waste pipe. If you can see the termination point of this pipe, it is likely an extension for the gutters and downspouts to take the water away from the house.

I'm guessing the pipe is WHITE plastic?
Where can you see this pipe? Can you see the termination?

[pepe1]

Since you do have an irrigation system, I would suspect a leak in the system to start. Turn off your sprinkler system at the main water supply (even if your sprinklers aren't running, you still need to turn of the main supply since certain irrigation lines are always pressurized). If you do not know where it is, have your sprinkler guy come turn it off. Leave it off for a week or two and see if the seepage stops. If so - you have a leak in the irrigation system.

[indian73]

Thank you for the suggestion. I do know where to turn off the sprinkler system. I will turn it off and report back.
Sicne this is on concrete, if it turns out to be a problem with the sprinkler system, will it be a heavy cost to fix it?