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So I have a water leak somewhere on my property. I live here by myself, not watering anything yet, my water bill was 12,000 gallons. My father and the other 2 family members down the street are at 3-4000gal. I went to the water meter and the leak detector gauge is slowly turning. I checked it at 12AM and again at 8AM and it was about 90-100gal which can translate to almost 9000gallons a month. So the numbers make sense. The shut off is between the city main and the meter so yes shutting that off stops the meter. I shut the cold valve on the water heater, valves under sinks and toilets, and the valve on the backflow preventer for the sprinklers. Still spins, didn't slow. The two water bibbs on the outside of the house have freeze covers are are not wet or dripping. There are no puddles in the yard, soggy spots, unusually green spots. There are some bare spots and I will have to wait for the rain water to dry out to see if anything remains wet. There are no wet floors, walls, or showers, this is a one story home. I even put a stethoscope onto the faucets to listen for any faint running noises and can't hear anything.
What else can I do before I call a plumber? This home was built in 1990. I'm praying it's not a slab leak but its aiming more towards it with my lack of findings. What are your thoughts?
My only suspicion is that (and you may remember my post), I have a stand up shower that had cracked grout and led to a wet wall. I stopped using that shower and the wall has dried, at least from what I can tell. I will post pictures of it next so you can see what I am talking about. Pic related, it's the sprinkler map I found when I bought the home.
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Here is the shower in question. Anyone who read about it a few weeks ago, no, I haven't even dug into that project yet. The little divider wall between the shower and the cabinets was the one that got wet. The moister was on the outer corner however I did see it was wet to the baseboard of the cabinet. As of right now though, it is dry. My only suspicion is that maybe the leak could be in the slab under the shower or somewhere the area? No wet walls or water stains have been found despite the shower head and valves share a wall with a walk in closet.
I honestly think that water "leak" was from cracked grout and water seeping in however if there were a slab leak I wound mind it being in there since I'm tearing out the shower anyway.
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Additionally the backflow preventer valves are corroded badly and the handles broke off without force. I was able to get vice grips on the stub that was left of the top valve and close it. I can't be 100% sure that it is completely closed, I mean it's old, it may still hiss a little, but the meter didn't slow down any and the sprinklers won't turn on so I will assume it is closed. The bottom valve on the backflow preventer was not able to be closed.
I say this because my coworker says I should dig up the 4 or 5 feet between the backflow preventer box and the meter and add a PVC shut off so I can work on the irrigation system without turning off the water to the entire lot. I said I agree but the backflow preventer has 2 shut offs on it. Yes, granted they are fucked right now but once I fix my leak I will replace the thing and then I will have usable valves again. In your opinion do you think I should do what he said so I can shut off the sprinklers *for sure* and make sure that isn't part of the leak? It would be my first time doing it and I really don't want to fuck up anything before the plumber comes. I am pretty confident it isn't the irrigation system that is leaking.
I just need a plumber to identify where the leak is coming from. If it's in the yard I can excavate myself. Sorry for all the obnoxious posts.
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Have you checked underneath the house if possible?
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>>1132844
Not possible no crawl space
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>>1132820
>In your opinion do you think I should do what he said so I can shut off the sprinklers *for sure*
Yup. Why cant you just swap exisiting fucked backflow preventer for a new valve, see that cures the leak first, then, worry about a 100% functional (inc. new backflow valve) sprinkler system later? Leaks unlikely to be in that 4-5 feet between there and meter, not impossible tho.
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>>1132943
The backflow preventer box/area is not wet at all, not under or around it.
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