Leaking Water Main?

[crokett™]

A friend's house is on a well. He mentioned the other day that they've started losing water pressure. He has a below-grade patio with a walkout basement. The sump drain the patio has been staying full of water, and it's been dry for the last few weeks. I was over there today. If we shut the main valve off, the pump never really stops. If we turn the pump off with the valve closed, we can see the pressure drop down to about 10lb or so. So, the water appears to be going somewhere. Since the pressure is dropping, the pump never really seems to stop and the sump is full of water, we're thinking there's a break in the line between the well and the house. It's running back down the sump drain and into the sump. There's no water coming up to the surface. The water line at least closer to the house is buried 5' or 6' below grade. Would a plumber or well guy be able to locate the leak without digging up the entire line? Could we by possibly rodding until we come up with something wet/muddy? The fix should be pretty basic, if we knew where to dig. It's figuring out where that's the problem.

[Robert Adams]

Look up a leak finder. They have eequipment that's basically a good microphone and they can pinpoint the leak by sound. I have seen them do it through thick slabs and get within a foot. 
   
     If his is that deep and you can't find any other evidence I would start calling a leak detector.

[JGrout]

what material is the line from the well to the house? 

if it is old (as in galvanized or some plastics ) replace the entire line it will just fail again somewhere else 

Joe

[daddo]

Dig a new trench next to the old line and run a new pipe.

[crokett™]

Dig a new trench next to the old line and run a new pipe.

hmm. I'm mad I didn't think about that. So you think the line is actually leaking, and it's not a pressure tank problem? I think we can handle pulling the new pipe.

[Snipe Hunter]

It sounds like a broken well line. A water logged pressure tank will usually cycle on and off. A broken line can just keep pumping. You can usually find a soaked area near the break. I've had to deal with three of these. You can install a pressure valve where the line enters the house and see if the pressure drops between the house and the well. I caution you, well pumps don't usually last too long if it has to keep pumping. They aren't continuous duty pumps.

The worst one I had to deal with was under the widest spot in my driveway so I had to cut up the driveway and do the repair. I ran all new line under the driveway. Usually the wire is right under it so be careful. I used a Dowser to find where the went under the driveway because all I could find was a wet area at one edge. He nailed it. He convinced me that the line ran in an arch from the service entrance at the house to the well and he was right.

It's probably 1" Poly pipe. Once you dig up the area, get a replacement piece of line at a plumbing supplier. The Borg stuff is generally thin walled. Also buy brass or stainless steel 1" stab couplers, not the plated ones. You'll have to warm up the pipe at the ends to get the coupler inside the new line and use hose clamps to put it all together. I'd recommend backfilling with either round pea gravel or sand to cover and protect the line and then backfill the dirt.

This was a easy one


This was the hard one. This is the one where I used a Dowser. He dropped a glove at each end of the driveway and one in the middle of the driveway. "Draw and arch through the gloves and start digging". The leak was right in the middle. The wet area was actually a few feet to the left of the photo where it was seeping out from under the driveway. Water was shooting up through the cracks when I drove across it.

[crokett™]

I remember that thread when you did the work.

There's no water at the surface. I told him to just plan on replacing the entire line, but I'll also suggest a dowser. The house is 40 years old. The line is probably at least that old. We know there was well work done at about the 20 year mark, but there's no details on what was done, just a permit application.

[Snipe Hunter]

If the sump is filling, I would assume the leak is near it. Out of curiosity, is this a deep or shallow well and how far from the house?

[EdL]

Dig the well up at the pitless adapter, I've seen more than 1 bad fittings there, including our house. The incompetent well drillers used a plastic elbow in the line.

And it's the easiest place to start.

Ed

[Snipe Hunter]

I would agree but if he's seeing water at the sump, I'd look there first.