I'm in the Franconia area, and have a leak in my water main. My water bill was $500 this quarter, and when I turn off the main shutoff, the meter at the street keeps running up.

I know it's easy to get gouged on a repair like this... does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

I have no idea.

If they have to dig up the line, it's going to be expensive whether you get gouged or not

Frazzled Homeowner Wrote:
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> I'm in the Franconia area, and have a leak in my
> water main. My water bill was $500 this quarter,
> and when I turn off the main shutoff, the meter at
> the street keeps running up.
>
> I know it's easy to get gouged on a repair like
> this... does anyone have any recommendations?
>
> Thanks!


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You sure you have a leak? Unless it is very very slow you should notice it. At $1.50/1000 gallons, a $500 bill is a LOT of water (about 3700 gallons a day?)

Get a shovel and follow the pipe as it leaves the street meter.
You don't say how old your home is.Or you could get a couple Home Despot beaners to dig the line up and find the leak.Its not rocket science fer chrissakes.

n4Fpe Wrote:
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> You sure you have a leak? Unless it is very very
> slow you should notice it. At $1.50/1000 gallons,
> a $500 bill is a LOT of water (about 3700 gallons
> a day?)

The bill was for 82,000 gallons. The next one will be a lot higher... I don't know when the leak began, but it seems to be losing over 1,000 gallons/day now.

The house was built in the late '50s, but I know the main was replaced within the last 20 years. It was done along with the sewer, so there's a good chance it's pretty deep.

My thanks to everyone for the suggestions and ideas.

Another thing they can do now is reline your existing pipe.They pull a "bursting head" thru the pipe to expand it,followed by a liner so they don't dig up the whole yard.I don't know if ya got tree roots in yer pipe.With that kind of leak,I'm surprised you don't have some surface indications like a sinkhole or depression of some sort.But your in for a boning if you cant do it yourself.You could just run a new pipe a foot or so deep and forget about the old one.

can ou tear yourself away from the internet long enough to go look for a leak ?

>With that kind of leak,I'm surprised you don't have some surface indications

I was thinking that too. Even if the leak found a different exit other than upwelling, it should wind up in the nearest local storm drains.

1000 gallons a day -- almost gallon a minute

Well? What did you come up with goddamit?

On a recent water bill, I noticed the option to purchase insurance for about $5.00 a month to cover such damages. I might opt for this at some point as $5.00 is a small amount to pay when faced with $2K+ in charges to rip up my front yard.

Pay Me Now, Or Pay Me Later Wrote:
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> On a recent water bill, I noticed the option to
> purchase insurance for about $5.00 a month to
> cover such damages. I might opt for this at some
> point as $5.00 is a small amount to pay when faced
> with $2K+ in charges to rip up my front yard.

When a neighbor up the street had their yard dug up, we opted for this insurance (via the electric company...I guess to keep the water/insurance folks from collusion). Three years later had a similar leak to the OP's. I was also surprised there wasn't a swamp in our yard. Long story short...line replaced (for free due to insurance). Out of pocket would have been $6k (according to the guys who fixed it). Don't know if that's gouging or not, but the $5 a month for water line insurance was more than worth it.

Your water company needs to be advised and they will come out and check it out and trace it to see where it is located. If their line, they may fix it. If it is in your house, you may need a plumber.