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How do you know when it’s time to call someone about a water line repair? That may not be as easy to tell as you think. When our Temple Terrace, FL area customers call us to check out their water lines, they have usually spent quite a bit in wasted water and put up with all sorts of inconveniences that they thought were just part of the ups and downs of water pressure.
Do You Have A Great Garden Or Some Amazing Grass?
Believe it or not, really green grass over your water line or beautiful flowers next to your house right where your water supply enters can be signs that not all of your water is making it into the house. If you experience green thumb success that’s exclusively in a suspicious location, it’s time to take a look at other signs to find supporting evidence. Even if you can’t find any, it might be worth calling us for a quick check of the line with our leak detecting equipment. Plumbers can do a lot of the work checking out your main water line with very little digging these days, saving a lot of time and cost. They’ll check for simple leaks from damage such as digging, ground shifting, and pressure from above such as heavy equipment might cause. There’s also a concern about the state of the pipe, whether it’s a decaying plastic material or metal pipe that is corroding, possibly due to hard water or other water quality issues.
Spinning Water Meter Day And Night?
At some point, when your toilets have recovered from the latest flush, all the faucets are off, nobody’s showering, and the washer is idle, your water meter should be at a standstill. If it’s not, somewhere in your home there’s a leak. Homes built on concrete slabs can experience leaks underneath the slab that are quite difficult to detect until they progress, with water infiltrating the basement, sneaking out the sides of the foundation to do the surprisingly nice garden thing, or making sounds like you have a babbling brook underneath your basement floor. Water line repairs in or under your concrete foundation can be tricky. However, there are many modern techniques that can help make slab leak repairs more straightforward and help control the costs of water line repair.
Technological Water Line Leak Detection
Speaking of water line repairs under the slab, one of the challenges of completing the repair is actually finding the leak. It can be difficult to do, and in the past, the hunt for pipe problems resulted in multiple cuts in the concrete, or in walls, ceilings, or floors if the leak is somewhere else in the home. Our water line repair toolkit these days now includes specialized analysis equipment that listens to the pipes and detects any high-pitched sounds that result from water escaping through cracks and breaks. We also have the ability to determine how far down the pipe the break is, which is why this system is so useful for detecting hidden leaks that would otherwise cause a lot of cutting and repairing to locate. We also can use our video inspection system to visually locate damage to the pipe and perform an appropriate water line repair.
What Happens When There Are Multiple Leaks?
A single water line repair is a straightforward matter, once the leak is located. What if there are multiple leaks, either at the same time in multiple locations or in various places but appearing over time? It takes some plumbing experience to determine whether the problem is incidental, or, for under slab leaks, whether problems with the foundation or soil below it have disrupted the piping. Damage can also occur from corrosion or pipe decay, which suggests that more leaks will probably occur, requiring more repairs. At that point, it’s time to talk about re-piping to restore the integrity of the home’s plumbing. Instead of re-piping under slab plumbing, there are a number of other solutions that involve substituting re-routed new pipes nearby or in the basement, above the concrete.
Fast Or Slow Flow Problems
In addition to concerns about leaks in your water line, you might also experience water pressure problems. Pressure problems also are often overlooked, but there are important reasons not to let low or high water pressure continue without a visit from the plumber. The most important reasons are the damage that high water pressure can do to fixtures and appliances, and the risks of contaminated water backing up through your system if it has low water pressure, and posing health risks. If your community’s water supply typically has high pressure, you may also have a pressure regulator valve installed that manages the pressure, but also can make it somewhat flaky as the valve reaches the end of its 3-5 year lifetime.
Detecting Water Line Pressure Issues
Your plumber can perform a quick test to determine the state of your water line’s pressure. You can also perform a simple test involving recording the length of time that it takes a wide-open faucet such as your outside hose connection to fill a specific volume. Shower quality or low kitchen sink faucet pressure may be local problems, even slow-filling washing machines can simply be a matter of the local valve or supply hose, but together that’s different. Either way, give us a call to help.
Your Water Line Repair Experts At Drain Flo Plumbing
Our customers trust us to provide fast, effective repairs targeted to the source of the water line problem. We save them money on their water bills, improve their showers and washing machine effectiveness, and answer any questions they have about the water line repair problems they have. If you suspect that your water line in the Temple Terrace, FL area isn’t as sound as it should be, give us at Drain Flo Plumbing a call and we can help.
