Constant water drain problem?

[RobinL in Canada]

Wondering if anyone out there might have some idea of what could be causing the constant water drain problem at my house. I was getting very high water bills since January, so called in a plumber to try to figure out what was causing this. He found a drip from a bathtub faucet and fixed that; some water seepage in one toilet and fixed that; and one toilet which was constantly draining and refilling the tank, and I had a new toilet installed. We couldn't find any other problems anywhere else. Nonetheless, the red "low flow" indicator on my water meter keeps turning--sometimes slowly, sometimes jerkily, and sometimes it will sit still for a minute or two before resuming its slow spin. We tried turning off the water to the house to see if it was a problem with the meter, but the low flow indicator does stop spinning when we do that, so evidently its not the meter itself.

 

This situation is terribly frustrating --it's like "flushing" money away each month. Would anyone have any idea what could be causing this constant drain? I don't know where else to turn because the plumber (a large, reputable company)has no more ideas about what to do.

[Trilliums]

Pipes leaking in walls, basement or foundation?

This happened to a friend and they had to tear up part of their foundation. This was in Arizona though, probably different pipe configuration for northern homes.

[Walking-Iris]

Leak in a pipe out in the yard is a possibility. You can call your water company and they should send someone out to help figure out the problem even if it's down to you to fix it. We had outrageous water bills that didn't make since and I called about my concerns about the bill and they sent a city worker out. He stuck some type of "thing" in the ground in a few places. And he found a leak in a pipe in our backyard. We then hired a plumber to dig and fix it. Your water company/city workers should do that for you. They don't want wasted water either.

[datgh]

I agree about a leak in a pipe somewhere. This happened in a way to us to only it was our electric bill that had taken a big jump and stayed there. We have our own well and it turned out that the pipe coming up the well had cracked so water kept leaking back down the well as the pump pumped it back up. The constantly running pump tripled our electric bill. Hope you find a solution soon.

[OrganicAnn]

Have you checked all outside faucets?

 

Do you have houses close by? Could another house be tapped into your water?

[Tap]

Leak in a pipe out in the yard is a possibility. You can call your water company and they should send someone out to help figure out the problem even if it's down to you to fix it. We had outrageous water bills that didn't make since and I called about my concerns about the bill and they sent a city worker out. He stuck some type of "thing" in the ground in a few places. And he found a leak in a pipe in our backyard. We then hired a plumber to dig and fix it. Your water company/city workers should do that for you. They don't want wasted water either.

 

:iagree: call the water company.

[Dad 4 Boys]

Wondering if anyone out there might have some idea of what could be causing the constant water drain problem at my house. I was getting very high water bills since January, so called in a plumber to try to figure out what was causing this. He found a drip from a bathtub faucet and fixed that; some water seepage in one toilet and fixed that; and one toilet which was constantly draining and refilling the tank, and I had a new toilet installed. We couldn't find any other problems anywhere else. Nonetheless, the red "low flow" indicator on my water meter keeps turning--sometimes slowly, sometimes jerkily, and sometimes it will sit still for a minute or two before resuming its slow spin. We tried turning off the water to the house to see if it was a problem with the meter, but the low flow indicator does stop spinning when we do that, so evidently its not the meter itself.

 

This situation is terribly frustrating --it's like "flushing" money away each month. Would anyone have any idea what could be causing this constant drain? I don't know where else to turn because the plumber (a large, reputable company)has no more ideas about what to do.

 

You say you turned off the water to the house and the meter stopped turning. Did you turn it off in the meter box or inside the house? If you turned it off inside the house, you've ruled out any underground leaks already. If you turned it off in the meter box, try turning it off inside the house and see what the meter does. If it keeps turning after you've turned the water inside the house, you do indeed have an underground leak.

 

Good luck with this.

[RobinL in Canada]

Thank you for the replies. I did originally call the water company which insisted that the problem could not be the water meter itself. I was advised to turn off the water inside the house and did so then; the low flow indicator stopped moving. I've tried that again, and again, the low flow indicator stops. So that would mean there is *not* an underground pipe leak? So would it still be worth having the city come out to check, as Walking Iris said?

 

How would I find out if another house is tapped into our water, as Organic Ann asked?

 

I do not think we have any pipes leaking in the walls or foundation, No water damage evident anywhere. I did have some serious water damage two years ago, but that was due to improper grading under the deck by whoever built the house, and that was repaired (after having half my basement torn up and redone--ugh). Since there, we have had no evidence of any further water damage. Also, the water bills increased during the winter while the outside faucets were turned off.

 

So if it is not an underground pipe leak, and a plumber has already checked all the toilets, and nothing is dripping anywhere, then *what* could be causing the constant water flow? This is all terribly frustrating as I really cannot afford this ongoing extra expense.

[Trilliums]

This really sounds like an inside leak of some sort. It seems as though it should be noticeable though. I wonder if it is posiibly leaking outside of your house, but still tied into the interior water supply.

 

I would try turning off the water at various sinks just to see if any of them happen to stop the low flow.

 

Hm, such a puzzle.

[Tap]

Thank you for the replies. I did originally call the water company which insisted that the problem could not be the water meter itself. I was advised to turn off the water inside the house and did so then; the low flow indicator stopped moving. I've tried that again, and again, the low flow indicator stops. So that would mean there is *not* an underground pipe leak? So would it still be worth having the city come out to check, as Walking Iris said?

 

How would I find out if another house is tapped into our water, as Organic Ann asked?

 

I do not think we have any pipes leaking in the walls or foundation, No water damage evident anywhere. I did have some serious water damage two years ago, but that was due to improper grading under the deck by whoever built the house, and that was repaired (after having half my basement torn up and redone--ugh). Since there, we have had no evidence of any further water damage. Also, the water bills increased during the winter while the outside faucets were turned off.

 

So if it is not an underground pipe leak, and a plumber has already checked all the toilets, and nothing is dripping anywhere, then *what* could be causing the constant water flow? This is all terribly frustrating as I really cannot afford this ongoing extra expense.

 

Hmmm. I guess I would turn off the main valve in the house AND at each sink, toilet, water heater. Open each main valve on the toilets and sinks, one-by-one and then check for flow again between each. That may help you to determine if you have a leak between the valve and the device in the wall. Or if one of the toilets are indeed still leaking. Did you try a dye test to see if water was moving from the tank to stool?

 

I do know that there are water sensors that people who handle flood clean up use. I wonder if they could be of use to track down moisture in a wall or in soil. If it is just a small trickle, it may be draining in to the soild or just evaporating if you live in a hot/dry climate. Has anyone looked under the house for drips?