Leak in copper water line near street. Best options?

Question

Hello,

I received a letter(attached) from the city of Casper, WY regarding a small leak in a copper water line at my duplex.  Per my conversation with the city, they shut off water and determined that it stopped the leak on my property, only a few feet from the shut off. They turned the water back on because I guess the leak is pretty minor.

I am just writing to find out a few things as I am pretty new to property ownership and this is the first real issue I have faced.

1.) Is there any method to get the city to help with some of the expenses of fixing the leak?

2.) How much should an issue like this cost my (considering its a small leak in copper piping about 5 feet deep and assuming about 4-5 feet form the curb stop.)?

3.) Just want to make sure I'm not being taken advantage of as a remote property owner.

Any information the BP community can provide me with is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

-Kyle

Bill S. · Answer

@Kyle Agius so the City won't help you deal with this. 1) Generally speaking the property owner is responsible for the water service line starting at the water main in the street. Most people don't realize this until something goes wrong and the water department breaks the news.

2) It sounds like based on what you describe that you would be digging in a landscape area to make the repair. If it goes pretty easy, it would take a crew with a backhoe about half a day to fix it. How much that costs depends on a lot of factors, most of which are who you hire to do the work. That crew would cost $2k here and you might find someone to do it in Casper for $1,000. Make sure you have a phone that shows up as a Wyoming prefix (307) when you call to get prices.  Think Google Voice if you haven't already. If you don't, you might get the out-of-state "special" when they see the 303 area code. I like @Deanna McCormick's idea of hiring the excavation separate. Equipment is expensive. Perhaps there a couple college students that want some beer money and would dig it out for $100. A plumber without equipment could then fix it for lots cheaper.

3) In my experience your biggest risk as an absentee owner is with the people performing the work for you. They are the ones that will take advantage of you. The City is big enough that they don't have time to go around taking advantage of individual users. They are just looking to have a tight system so they don't have to produce water they can't bill for. The other possibility might be that during some recent maintenance or construction they "inadvertently" damaged your line and are trying to pan it off on you so they don't have to own up to their mistake.

I would be concerned about a leak in a copper pipe. Usually copper lasts for years. If it recently developed a leak then that could be a sign you need to budget for a whole new line. That is after you rule out that the line was damaged during some recent construction activity. Some soils react with copper and cause it to fail prematurely. The first leak is just the tip of the iceberg.

Kalyb Coats · Answer

It says they hydroexavated the near the meter and then found the leak right?

Roger S. · Answer

Good Lord!.  Wow.   I had the exact same issue, water leak about 1 foot beyond the meter on my property.   Took me an hour to dig down and find the leak, and less than 20 bucks for a 3/4 inch shark bite fitting.  I cut the copper line, disconnected the meter union and installed the shark bite.  Water was back on in less that 2 hours.

Kalyb Coats · Answer

kinda odd that they jusf happend to find it after they were working there lol

Mike Reynolds · Answer

They very possibly could have caused it but they would never admit to it. I would at least try and point out what's in the letter and see what they say. They are be always right. Many of them use scare tactics.

Mine tried that two months ago complete with a certified letter that went to me and the state water board. Problem was I knew the laws and they were in the wrong and I showed them. Now the state is on them not me. It can get serious though as the state is nothing to play with.

Roger S. · Answer

2 feet.

Kyle Agius · Answer

@Bill S. Thanks for the response Bill.  I will shop around to see my best price.  The dirt up there is very dry and rocky so I think I may need a piece of equipment to get 5 feet down. I will research the options for replacing the entire pipe.

@Roger Sandmann How far down was your pipe you dug down to... I assume being in Texas that it was not as deep as ours but this sounds like a much better and cheaper option.  I will research.

@Kalyb Coats Yes, it does indeed say that on the letter. Im not exactly sure what that entails though.  Could they possibly have caused that leak while doing that?  How can I prove/test for that?

John Woodrich · Answer

I would ask how much water is leaking as the letter doesn't indicate that it is a main line leak.  It also says a small leak, a main line could be a pin-hole leak but is typically considered a bigger leak.  I received a similar letter from a city and it related to 2 of the garden hose valves leaking pretty good.  Going through a gallon or two an hour didn't tip off the tenants but the city was really concerned that I fix it.

First call someone out to locate the leak.  Ours was under the steps at the foundation and it wasn't much more difficult @Deanna McCormick, it just helped us decide quickly that we were going to run a separate line to the side and reconnect in the basement instead of patching an old pipe.

I did this project with one guy who owned an excavator.  We replaced half of the line running from the curb stop to the house.  We started in the morning and finished in the evening just the 2 of us.  Paid him $1,000 and we were both happy.

After you find the leak you can figure out your plan.

In most cities you are responsible for the line after the curb stop, not the meter.  This could be different with larger apartment buildings but if you are unsure you can look at your city code.

Kyle Agius · Answer

@Deanna McCormick, Thank you for the input.  Thankfully weather warm this time of year in casper, so I will not need to deal with freezing.  Sounds like it could be an expensive issue although I'm hoping not.

@Kalyb Coats I dont know if they were doing any work there, maybe just were checking on meters? Im not really sure.  If you know anyone who can get this done, let me know.

Still looking for anyone else who has had this issue.

Kalyb Coats · Answer

makes a guy wonder if they hit it or somethin

Leak in copper water line near street. Best options?

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