Your main water line is the big pipe that brings water from the public, street-level water line into your home. In most cases, it is buried beneath your home's foundation. Sometimes, it may run alongside your home or across your front yard. In either case, it is not the easiest line to access, which means if it springs a leak, you won't see the ordinary signs of a plumbing leak like water shooting out all over the place. But that does not mean that you cannot tell whether there's a leak in your main water line. You just have to know the signs to look for. Here they are:
A Drop in Water Pressure
If some water is exiting your main water line before it even enters your home, that means less water is going to be entering your home. In other words, the water that does come into your home will be under less pressure. Your showers may feel less powerful, or you might notice that it takes longer to fill up a water bottle or dish pan. When your main water line is to blame, this will happen at all of your taps, not just one or two.
Soggy Soil
The water that leaks out of your main water line has to go somewhere. It will go into the soil surrounding it. That soil may become soggy. If you notice a puddle or a really wet area to the side of your home or next to it, and you can't figure out where the wetness came from, there is a good chance it came from a leak in your main water line.
Wet Basement
If you have a basement and your main water line runs under your basement floor, which is common, you may notice that your basement becomes increasingly wet when the main water line starts leaking. You may not see actual puddles of water, but water may start seeing through any cracks, and you might notice that your dehumidifier is working overtime to remove moisture from the air. Moldy and musty odors are common, too.
If you notice one or more of the following issues, call a plumber. They have various sensors and equipment they can use to tell, for sure, whether your main water line has sprung a leak. If they do discover a leak, they can often sleeve the line, which will prevent the need to replace it completely.
To learn more, contact local plumbing services.
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