Water leak but no visible water

[lamywaby]

Last month my water my water bill doubled. Come home checked the meter and it was moving. From my calculations is leaking almost 20 gallons an hour yet there is no visible water in the yard or in the home.
My water district swears it is a toilet leak and “it’s not that big of a leak” Even though I cannot hear the toilets running. Also we have closed all shut off valves in the house but the meter is still running. I am on a concrete slab but I have spoken with the builder and the line under the house only reaches about three feet. If the water is leaking that much there should be water somewhere?!?

Three plumbers have been out and cannot locate the issue. The water district has been out to confirm it’s not the meter. My home was built in two phases. The new development the water pipes are all in the walls and ceiling. The older development where the water come into the house is where the pipe is under the house then up into the walls.

Thoughts ?

 

[lamywaby]

Last month my water my water bill doubled. Come home checked the meter and it was moving. From my calculations is leaking almost 20 gallons an hour yet there is no visible water in the yard or in the home.
My water district swears it is a toilet leak and “it’s not that big of a leak” Even though I cannot hear the toilets running. Also we have closed all shut off valves in the house but the meter is still running. I am on a concrete slab but I have spoken with the builder and the line under the house only reaches about three feet. If the water is leaking that much there should be water somewhere?!?

Three plumbers have been out and cannot locate the issue. The water district has been out to confirm it’s not the meter. My home was built in two phases. The new development the water pipes are all in the walls and ceiling. The older development where the water come into the house is where the pipe is under the house then up into the walls and leak detection specialist near Basingstoke.

Thoughts ?

thanks in advance for any help

 

[EatenByLimestone]

20 gallons an hour is not small. It doubled your water bill. Whether water is visible in the yard depends on the soil type. Sand will just drain down. The hole is after your water meter and before the inside of your house. If it was in your house im sure you'd notice the (if your calculations are correct) 480 gallons a day or 342 1.4 gallon flushes spreading out over your slab. If it was a leaky toilet, you'd be looking at over 14 extra flushes per hour.

 

[Poindexter]

The usual smoking gun is the flapper valve in a toilet/ commode. It is the failure point of modern indoor plumbing systems.

To test your toilet flapper valves, drop 15-20 drops of food coloring into the reserve tank, and come back in an hour to see if the reserve tank is still brightly colored and the toilet bowl faintly colored or not colored at all. This is far and away the most likely cause of your leak.

However, it is not the only option. I had a leak about a year ago. The water company sent a young priest and an old priest and the first thing the both of them did was stare at my two toilet bowls with bright lights while murmuring in Latin. I had already done the food coloring test on both toilets, but it was going to be faster to just let them go through their process then argue with them.

They called in a third priest from the water company. The young priest and the old priest told the third priest they had already prayed the prayer of Saint Somewhere over both toilet bowls and that was not the problem; but the third priest went and prayed over both of my toilet bowls, with another bright light, anyway.

There was a conference of the three priests in my garage. There was some Aramaic spoken, more Latin, and Pope Francis was invoked, in Italian, a couple dozen times. There were hand gestures and loud vocalizations. Incense was burnt. I was glad I didn't have any live chickens in the back yard. It was agreed by the three priests the toilet bowls were not the source of my leak. My water bill/ consumption had doubled in 2-3 months with no change in household membership.

A mechanical stethoscope was produced from one of the two enormous trucks out in the street belonging to the three priests. Apparently some washing machines, some laundry machines, can leak water directly from intake to drainage without making a mark on the floor. Absolute silence was observed in the household while the three priests in turn listened to the water intake lines to the laundry machine with the hot and cold valves both on and off. The process was repeated with the dishwasher and refrigerator icemaker in the kitchen. Words were spoken. More incense was burnt. I was glad I have no livestock like goats or sheep living in the back garden.

It was eventually demonstrated that my water heater had a pinhole leak in the storage tank. I replaced the water heater and household water consumption returned to baseline.

The thing about the priests from the water company is they are working hard to make clean drinking water. They don't want that water wasted and will/should (very likely) be willing to help diagnose your problem for free, but you the homeowner will be on the financial hook for whatever problems they do find.

Good luck and best wishes.

 

[Poindexter]

we have closed all shut off valves in the house but the meter is still running.

You need a site visit from a young priest and an old priest from the order of Saint Plumbing.

 

[fbelec]

lol that was great poindexter had a lot of laughs

 

[bigealta]

If your water heater was leaking that much there must have been a large puddle on the floor?

 

[bogieb]

The usual smoking gun is the flapper valve in a toilet/ commode. It is the failure point of modern indoor plumbing systems.

To test your toilet flapper valves, drop 15-20 drops of food coloring into the reserve tank, and come back in an hour to see if the reserve tank is still brightly colored and the toilet bowl faintly colored or not colored at all. This is far and away the most likely cause of your leak.

However, it is not the only option. I had a leak about a year ago. The water company sent a young priest and an old priest and the first thing the both of them did was stare at my two toilet bowls with bright lights while murmuring in Latin. I had already done the food coloring test on both toilets, but it was going to be faster to just let them go through their process then argue with them.

They called in a third priest from the water company. The young priest and the old priest told the third priest they had already prayed the prayer of Saint Somewhere over both toilet bowls and that was not the problem; but the third priest went and prayed over both of my toilet bowls, with another bright light, anyway.

There was a conference of the three priests in my garage. There was some Aramaic spoken, more Latin, and Pope Francis was invoked, in Italian, a couple dozen times. There were hand gestures and loud vocalizations. Incense was burnt. I was glad I didn't have any live chickens in the back yard. It was agreed by the three priests the toilet bowls were not the source of my leak. My water bill/ consumption had doubled in 2-3 months with no change in household membership.

A mechanical stethoscope was produced from one of the two enormous trucks out in the street belonging to the three priests. Apparently some washing machines, some laundry machines, can leak water directly from intake to drainage without making a mark on the floor. Absolute silence was observed in the household while the three priests in turn listened to the water intake lines to the laundry machine with the hot and cold valves both on and off. The process was repeated with the dishwasher and refrigerator icemaker in the kitchen. Words were spoken. More incense was burnt. I was glad I have no livestock like goats or sheep living in the back garden.

It was eventually demonstrated that my water heater had a pinhole leak in the storage tank. I replaced the water heater and household water consumption returned to baseline.

The thing about the priests from the water company is they are working hard to make clean drinking water. They don't want that water wasted and will/should (very likely) be willing to help diagnose your problem for free, but you the homeowner will be on the financial hook for whatever problems they do find.

Good luck and best wishes.

That was an awesome description!

 

[Poindexter]

If your water heater was leaking that much there must have been a large puddle on the floor?

All I had was a damp spot on the floor under the water heater. If you take like a teaspoon of water and spread it out over a square foot or so, that kind of damp spot.

But when they turned off the supply line to the hot water heater, the tell tale on the water meter stopped moving. And when they turned the supply to the hot water heater back on after ten seconds or so, there was a clearly audible "whoosh" as the hot water heater tank repressurized.

It is voodoo I tell you, black art.

 

[zrock]

From experience chasing a water leak years ago in a modular park i was running at the time.. I spent 3 days looking for the water leak (a large one), I finally had to get a leak detector for hearing under ground and finally found the home it was coming from. Pipe had frozen over the winter and broke 90% under the trailer. Home owner replied when i asked why they did not say anything... Oh i thought our water pressure was low" i looked at them and said chit you had no water pressure with that leak.. I documented and took pictures and the home owner was responsible for a 10g water bill..
First you need to shut off the supply to your hose on your side of the meter so their is no water running into your house, leave inlet to the water meter open. If the meter is still spinning then its a faulty meter. If that tests good once again shut off all the valves to your toilets and such and one at a time turn them back on, Best thing to do here is get a mechanics stethoscope and listen to each valve after you turn the water off and listen for running water. I would almost bet its a toilet after you flush it flapper is slightly getting stuck and runs for a while after you flush and then finally closes.

 

[peakbagger]

The other source for leaks is old galvanized piping downstream of the meter, sometimes is right on the edge of rusting through and just seeps. It can be big cause of mold in walls.

 

[bogieb]

Had a cast iron boiler 'burst" and develop a leak. Had no clue. Was running off a well and our water pressure was fine. I visited the heating room every day to clean cat boxes that were right next to the boiler and there were no visible water spots on the concrete floor. Found the leak when I walked into the corner of the adjacent room in bare feet and the carpet was wet. At first thought a dog had peed inappropriately, but there was no smell.

The water was running out the back corner of the boiler directly under the wall into that adjacent room). That happened during winter, so it was an expensive emergency bill to get a new system installed. Yeah, that was one of my birthday presents that I had to leave with the ex.