Questions about finding/diagnosing a leak

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roflwaffle

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My mom's new (to her) home is located on a plot of land where everyone has an easement for all the usual things. Her water meter is on a public road with a ~600ft run of 1.5" PVC for the supply line. Recently a patched section through an easement in one of our neighbors went out, and after a few Homer'esque "Dohs!" for not letting the fittings cure long enough, we managed to restore water. Unfortunately, it looks like there is still a leak, it's not in the house (shut that off to check yesterday), and the really odd things is that it's intermittent. At the meter, the triangle flow indicator will spin more than a few times, spin backwards a few (maybe a quarter of the initial number of rotations), pause for ~30s to a few minutes, then it will go through this whole dance again. It appears to be pretty substantial, about 5+ gallons/hr, but I can't see any evidence of it, probably because it's draining into a gopher/squirrel hole. I'm 99% sure the first step is to inspect the recently repaired portion as well as dig up any nearby fittings, and I'll probably find the problem, especially since it looks like whoever assembled that section didn't use PVC cement primer, but if I don't what should be my next course of action? I was thinking about starting to bisect the line with check valves in order to isolate the leak, but is that worth the chance of causing other leaks?
 

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My mom's new (to her) home is located on a plot of land where everyone has an easement for all the usual things. Her water meter is on a public road with a ~600ft run of 1.5" PVC for the supply line. Recently a patched section through an easement in one of our neighbors went out, and after a few Homer'esque "Dohs!" for not letting the fittings cure long enough, we managed to restore water. Unfortunately, it looks like there is still a leak, it's not in the house (shut that off to check yesterday), and the really odd things is that it's intermittent. At the meter, the triangle flow indicator will spin more than a few times, spin backwards a few (maybe a quarter of the initial number of rotations), pause for ~30s to a few minutes, then it will go through this whole dance again. It appears to be pretty substantial, about 5+ gallons/hr, but I can't see any evidence of it, probably because it's draining into a gopher/squirrel hole. I'm 99% sure the first step is to inspect the recently repaired portion as well as dig up any nearby fittings, and I'll probably find the problem, especially since it looks like whoever assembled that section didn't use PVC cement primer, but if I don't what should be my next course of action? I was thinking about starting to bisect the line with check valves in order to isolate the leak, but is that worth the chance of causing other leaks?

Hello, your thought on digging up the repaired section first is where I would start, do that and let us know, if you found it. But, be sure, that the main shut off valve in the house is working by checking all your toilets for leaks while the water is on. And, if you find a leak in the toilet, repair that first then, shut the main valve off in the house and see, if you still have the leak.
 
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