Signs Your Underground Water Line Is Leaking

Reviewed by Tom Dickerson · 365 Solutions HVAC & Plumbing · Florida Certified Plumbing Contractor CFC1432730

The water service line runs underground from the meter at the street to the house. When it fails, you rarely see water. You see the effects.

Five signs

A green or soggy strip in the yard between the meter and the house, especially in dry weather. Water pressure that has dropped at every fixture, not just one. A water bill that jumped with no change in use. The meter’s leak indicator moving with every fixture in the house off and the main valve open — then stopping when you close the main valve at the house. That last test is the one that confirms it: if the meter runs with the house valve shut, the leak is in the service line.

Why it happens here

Most service lines in Northeast Florida are PVC or polyethylene, and most failures are at a fitting, at the shutoff, or where a root or a settling driveway has stressed the pipe. Older homes in St. Augustine and Jacksonville can still have galvanized steel, which corrodes from the inside and eventually splits. Pool contractors, fence posts and irrigation installs are the most common human causes.

What a repair involves

We locate the leak with acoustic and tracer equipment so we dig one hole, not a trench. A fitting or short section is repaired the same day. If the line is old galvanized, or has failed more than once, we replace the whole run — usually a one-day job, and often trenchless, pulling new pipe through the old path so the yard and driveway stay intact. Call 811 before any digging on your own property; we handle the utility locate on ours.

What to do right now

If water is visibly surfacing, close the main shutoff at the house to protect the slab and foundation, and call. If it is only a bill or a soft spot, run the meter test above and call with the result; it saves diagnostic time.