Possible Underground Pipe Break (water heater, tanks, installed, shower)
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I had the water company come out last week to remove the lock from the valve from the water meter. Yesterday I went out to turn the valve on to try to check the condition of the plumbing inside the house. Thing is, the needle on the meter was turning which indicates that the water was flowing, but I gotten no running water inside the house. Turned every valve I could on, including the water heater area but no water anywhere. But when I went back outside to examine the meter, the needle on the meter was still moving.
My guess is, there might be a broken or cracked pipe somewhere along the line from the meter to the house. And its a good distance since the meter is near the street. Do you think a plumber may be in order to have that checked? Because of there is a broken section of pipe anywhere between the meter and the house, its gonna be a major operation to have to dig all of that up to change it out.
Did you check the main shut off valve where it enters the house? If you had a leak large enough to detour all water coming from the meter, you would know it in a quick hurry, your yard would be under water...! A 3/4" pipe at 60 pounds pressure would be a sizable leak, and it wouldn't stay hidden very long. A cracked pipe wouldn't prevent all flow to the house.
I think you need to look elsewhere for your problem.
You haven't given the system enough time to stabilize. Open the main valve, run water in each faucet and commode and shower/bath on full until it comes out in a steady stream from both hot and cold taps. Turn the taps off and wait a bit more. Open them back up to see if there are any more air pockets, then shut them off. Then go back to the meter and see if it is still turning.
It takes time to get air pockets out of a system. As an idea of what to expect, I pump water up about 100' over a 400' distance of 3/4 poly to a storage tank. It takes about 3 minutes just for the water to begin flowing out of the pipe at the top of the lift.
Chances are your system is fine. If it isn't, post back.
Ok, I will turn it back on again when I head back out there and wait for a bit. Since the house has been vacant for quite sometime chances are that time is needed for all the pipes to be stabilized before they flow out of the faucets. If after then that nothing happens I will report back. Thanks!
A few more facts might help, also. You say it's a good distance from the meter to the house. What exactly is a good distance, 50 feet or fifty yards, or more? If it's just a normal distance, it shouldn't take but a few seconds at most.
Harry's example of 400' at a 100' rise is far from typical, but if that is your situation, it could take a while. Is it a track home or a farm home, meaning much greater distance.. How long since you had water service at the house.
I'm assuming this took a few minutes to go through the house checking for flow and back to the meter to see the needle moving. That is enough time for water to reach the house, UNLESS it is a very long way from the meter to the house.
Did you make sure to turn on the main water valve at the house?
Many times it takes a long time to fill the water heater, and toilet tanks, however, you will usually see some water coming out somewhere.
When you do get water flowing turn on a hot and cold faucet the highest and furthest from the shut off to bleed the air out of the line.
If there is a leak between the meter and the house, you MAY see water come out of the ground, but if the water line is buried deep, you may not.
If the main water valve at the house is OFF, and the needle is still moving, then you do have a leak in the pipe between the meter and the house.
Depending on the pipe material, and how deep it is, it may not be that hard to repair. There are just so many variables.
I would go back to the house, find the main shut off in the house, turn it OFF, then turn on the meter and watch it. If it still spins after a little while then there is a break in the service line.
How long is a little while? If the meter is less than 100 feet from the house, I would say less than a minute, and maybe a minute per hundred feet would be a rough guess. if it is still spinning after a long time, then walk slowly from the meter to the house and check out the ground and look for water coming up. You may not always see a lot of water.
A few more facts might help, also. You say it's a good distance from the meter to the house. What exactly is a good distance, 50 feet or fifty yards, or more? If it's just a normal distance, it shouldn't take but a few seconds at most.
Harry's example of 400' at a 100' rise is far from typical, but if that is your situation, it could take a while. Is it a track home or a farm home, meaning much greater distance.. How long since you had water service at the house.
Its not a farm home, its an average sized home, 1283sq. ft home. I bought the house in January but I believe the last time water service was active was about a year ago, but I am not certain. I could call the water company and find out when the last time there was water service there. The house sits on two acres and the meter location is about 100' from the front of the house since the meter itself is at the very front of the yard near the roadway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barking Spider
I'm assuming this took a few minutes to go through the house checking for flow and back to the meter to see the needle moving. That is enough time for water to reach the house, UNLESS it is a very long way from the meter to the house.
Did you make sure to turn on the main water valve at the house?
Many times it takes a long time to fill the water heater, and toilet tanks, however, you will usually see some water coming out somewhere.
When you do get water flowing turn on a hot and cold faucet the highest and furthest from the shut off to bleed the air out of the line.
If there is a leak between the meter and the house, you MAY see water come out of the ground, but if the water line is buried deep, you may not.
If the main water valve at the house is OFF, and the needle is still moving, then you do have a leak in the pipe between the meter and the house.
Depending on the pipe material, and how deep it is, it may not be that hard to repair. There are just so many variables.
I would go back to the house, find the main shut off in the house, turn it OFF, then turn on the meter and watch it. If it still spins after a little while then there is a break in the service line.
How long is a little while? If the meter is less than 100 feet from the house, I would say less than a minute, and maybe a minute per hundred feet would be a rough guess. if it is still spinning after a long time, then walk slowly from the meter to the house and check out the ground and look for water coming up. You may not always see a lot of water.
Good luck
When I turned the valve on at the meter, I walked to the house and checked around. The only extra outside valve that I saw is the one where the outside water hose connects. I turned that valve but nothing happened. Now, I usually know that the water heater is the first thing to fill before the water goes into the house.
My water heater is outside, and the small pipes that are connected (PVC pipe) runs along the ground and underneath the house, so I am not sure where exactly the pipes lead to. I need to find out where. But I did disconnect the pipes from the top of the heater but no water flowed at all on either side.
About 10 minutes later I went back to the water meter and the needle was still moving. The meter itself is about 100' from the front of the house but even that it shouldn't have taken that long for the water to reach the house.
As for the main shutoff valve at the house, it appears that there isn't one, but I will go back out to the house later on (I am not living there yet as I am doing work on it). I probably will have to look a little deeper to see if I can locate the main valve, and to find out where the water heater pipes run under the house. Most likely I will need to do some plumbing work to correct some of the plumbing flaws I have noticed.
I will turn the meter valve back on and do a slow walk back to the house and watch for any obvious water leaks anywhere. I do not know how deep the water service line is buried and there's no telling what type of pipe was used to carry the water to the house. If the pipe was buried deep, then it will be tough to determine where the water leak will turn up at.
If the house has a crawlspace, the main shut off may be under there. From what you describe, it sounds like a water leak in the pipe between the meter and the house, or it is broken under the house and you will have a poll under there now.
Pipes are usually a few feet below grade, but can be deeper, or closer to the surface depending on how easy the ground was to dig and how lazy the person was that installed the water line.
Sometimes when a pipe leaks, and the ground is softer UNDER the pipe, the water will flow down and kind of create a little cavern of it's own. It will almost always show up at the surface at some point, but don't expect a big gusher, it may only be a trickle you see.
Something I experience once, I shut the water off at the house to see if my irrigation system still worked with the main shut off. I was going on vacation, and wanted to turn the water off to the house, but not to the irrigation system. After the test was complete, I jumped in the shower and had zero water. it seems it's quite common for the main shut off valve to break internally. It can appear to be on, but not be..!
When I opened the valve back up, the connection between the handle and the internal valve was broken, so it didn't pull the plug back out with it. I had to shut off the water, dissamble the valve and manually pull out the wedge plug. I inquired about replacing the valve, but the plumber told me not to bother, it would break again the next time you use it.
Just something else you might want to check....
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