Plumbing Question - Water Leak Under Concrete Pad Foundation

[Zach Schwarzmiller]

Greetings. I was sad to get a call from the City today letting me know my water consumption has doubled for this billing period. I just replaced 6 new water lines and meters in my building down the street and was hoping to not have to do anything else with damn water lines (my grandpa's and father's main water lines broke the same week mine did - odd????!). Anyways, it is what it is. It's a duplex on a concrete pad foundation. I've turned off the water shut off valves in each unit to verify it is indeed from the meters to the shut off's and it's still spinning (takes about 6 seconds to make one full rotation on the meter. When the sink is full-blast it takes about 2 seconds to make one full rotation on the meter). I have dug the 5 feet distance from the meter to the concrete foundation and have not located any water leaking. I am assuming I need to hire a water leak detection company to use some sort of moisture detection equipment. The worst part is i just refinished my concrete floors, and now I might have to cut them up to get under them - $H*T!. Anyone have any thoughts on the best way to approach this? What do other people do when this happens? Is it best to just fix the leak or is there a good way to replace the water lines? This property is in Snohomish County, Washington State. Thank You!

[Vic Stezin]

In the end it will be less intrusive to abandon the defective line and install a new one in a location that it can be accessed in the future. Digging up concrete is a mess that is best avoided. A good plumber should be able to help you figure out a new route.

Vic

Easton, PA