How an Underground Water Line Gets Repaired (and Why It’s Not a DIY Job)

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

A broken water line is not a weekend project. The line is under pressure, it is buried near gas, electric and communication lines, and in most of St. Johns County and Jacksonville the repair needs a permit and an inspection. Here is what the job actually looks like.

Step 1: confirm it is the service line

Close the main shutoff at the house and watch the meter. If it still moves, the leak is between the meter and the house. If it stops, the leak is inside and this is a different job.

Step 2: locate the break

We do not dig along the whole line. Acoustic listening picks up the hiss of pressurized water through soil; a tracer wire or locator follows the pipe path. On a typical Nocatee or Durbin Crossing lot this takes under an hour and tells us where to open one hole.

Step 3: the utility locate

Florida law requires a call to 811 before digging. Sunshine 811 marks gas, power, cable and water in two business days. We handle it. A homeowner digging without a locate is the most common way a small water leak becomes a cut gas line.

Step 4: repair or replace

A single split or a failed fitting on a sound line gets a spot repair: excavate, cut out the bad section, install a new coupling or section of pipe rated for underground service, pressure-test, backfill. Old galvanized steel, polybutylene, or a line that has failed twice gets replaced end to end. Where the run passes under a driveway, walkway or mature landscaping we usually pull new pipe through trenchlessly from two small pits.

Step 5: permit and inspection

Service line replacement in St. Johns County and the City of Jacksonville is permitted work; the inspector checks the pipe material, depth and connection at the meter before the hole is closed. Doing it without a permit can surface when you sell the house.

What it costs

It depends on the length of the run, the pipe material, what is over it, and whether it is a spot repair or a replacement. We give you a written price after locating the break and before any digging.