Hi there, please can you help us solve this mystery? We live in rural Arkansas a few miles from a small town. A few months ago our water bill jumped enormously 2 months in a row, and the amount of water turned out to be about eleven thousand gallons in one month, compared to the less than two thousand we usually use. It's just my husband and myself, both retired.

So my husband tried to find the water line. It's of course a PVC pipe that runs from the meter which is located down near the highway. We laid this water line nearly forty years ago when we first moved out here (our children were little) so naturally we forgot exactly where the line was as it came up the hill to where we were building our house. 

All we knew was that the water line generally followed the fence line between our yard and the neighbors'. 

After receiving the exorbitant water bill a few months ago, we got out and did lots and lots of shoveling and figuring, we found most of the line and since then my husband has installed shutoff valves at 3 points along the line.  

In the meantime, the leak that was somehow allowing thousands and thousands of gallons of water to leak, has slowed to a trickle, for no apparent reason.

My husband has been meticulously checking the meter, keeping records, calculating all sorts of things, intermittently. Since those first couple of months of over ten thousand gallons, the amount of water that's leaking has varied wildly - anywhere from a fraction of an ounce per hour, to five gallons per hour, then back to less than a gallon per hour, etc etc.

There appears to be no cause for this variation. My husband has run many tests, turning off all the shutoff valves, measuring, turning a specific shut off valve back on, measuring again, etc. for weeks and weeks now.

We've tried several times completely shutting off all the valves, even at the meter itself, and running various tests and calculations. 


Yesterday my husband, based on all the calcuations, shutoffs, etc etc determined that the leak is located somewhere between the second and third shutoff valves.


Sometimes there's still a leak, and sometimes there isn't. Sometimes it's a tiny leak, sometimes it's gallons per hour, or a gallon per day.

The local water department can't figure it out.  None of the neighbors we've asked are experiencing anything similar. 

Please can you help us solve this mystery?  Aside from the fact that water is being wasted, the puzzle is kind of driving us up the wall. We don't know when the leak is going to get worse, but we assume that over time it certainly isn't going to just magically fix itself. So we're still trying to locate the leak, using the front scoop on the tractor, shovels and pickaxe. But the weather is really just too hot.

So the plan today is to either hire a ditchwitch and lay a completely new line section between those two shutoff valves. But we still want to solve this frustrating mystery.

Thank you for any ideas or clues as to what might possibly be going on to cause such off-and-on again leak.

Sincerely,
Meemee and Pop



Edited 1 times.

you are 100% sure it is not the toilet that is causing the extra usage ?

in my experience, an underground leak will be constant, not intermittent.

"Re: why does our water line leak only intermittently?"
Author: packy (MA)
"You are 100% sure it is not the toilet that is causing the extra usage ?
in my experience, an underground leak will be constant, not intermittent."

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Hi Packy and thank you for replying to my post. We think it's not any of the toilets, because sometimes the leak happens even when, inside the house we've shut off the individual shut off valve to each toilet in each bathroom, and, outside the house we've shut off all 3 of the shut off valves along the water line.

Note that we only know the leak is happening because my husband goes down to the water meter itself and takes notes of the dials and numbers. He also takes his mobile phone which has a camera, and snaps pix of the dials and numbers, as well as jotting down everything in a notebook. He's brilliant with math and all that, a very practical person and meticulous with his calculations.

As to your comment about an underground leak being constant, not intermittent, we agree with you, and the fact that the leak isn't constant is what's so very puzzling about this situation. It seems logical to assume that a leak is going to keep on leaking until somebody repairs it.

The intermittency is what's so confusing because it just doesn't seem to make any sense.

Could it be a matter of inconsistent water pressure? If the leak is a sort of hairline fracture in the PVC, would high water pressure force the water through the fracture enough to result in an eleven thousand gallon leak, and low water pressure then resulting in a leak of a few ounces, etc.? Nobody seems to know and we certainly don't.

But we appreciate your taking the time to reply and help us figure out what's going on.

Thank you!



Edited 2 times.

get a hose pressure gauge to test your pressure.
they are a very simple and affordable device that simply screws onto an outside faucet.

just google... " hose pressure gauge"
question.. does your water meter ever show zero usage or is there always some indication of water flow?