Unless your home is on a well, it is probably connected to a municipal water supply. Many homeowners don’t realize that the water line between the meter and their home is their responsibility. Water supply lines generally give years of trouble free service, but they can break or spring a leak. Usually the first sign of a leaking or broken water line is an unusually high water bill or a wet spot in the yard that never seems to dry out.
Wet spots in the yard and high water bills can have other causes. For example, your water company may only actually read the meter every few months and estimate your water usage during the in-between months. If their estimate is low, you may see a jump in your water bill for the month when they actually read the meter. If you have a swimming pool, you water bill will likely be higher in the summer as you use more water keeping the water level in the pool topped off.
If you suspect that you have a leaking or broken water supply line, try this simple test before calling the plumber for water line repairs: take a reading on your water meter, then shut off the water supply inside the house. Wait a few hours and take a second meter reading. If the reading has changed, then you have a leak in the water line between your home and the meter.
Leaking water line repairs can be a little tricky. The natural inclination is to start digging at the soft spot in the yard, but sometimes the water migrates several yards from the source of the leak before making its way to the surface. In other cases, you can have a leak and all the water percolates into the ground without leaving a tell-tale soft, mushy area at the surface. Your plumber can usually pinpoint the leak without digging by using modern leak detection devices.
