Mystery leak!

[tlyden]

I recently had a new water line put in at my house. The old one was leaking between the main on the street and my basement's main valve. My plumber drilled a new line in from my basement and viola, the leak was gone.
The next day I noticed the same familiar sound of water running while everything was off. I checked all valves, hose bibs, faucets, etc. and nothing is leaking. I turned off all valves except for my main in the basement and still the sound of water is running through the pipes. I turned off the main in my basement and the sound stopped.
I have isolated the sound of water running in the pipes at the back of my house in the basement, right below my main floor's toilet, but am very sure it is not the toilet. In the same area of pipes in the basement there is a cold line which runs down the back basement wall then continues into the basement floor. What is this pipe for? I have no idea where it goes but am thinking there may be a leak with this pipe, wherever it ends up. Any thoughts? Thanks,
Tim

 

[Master Plumber 101]

If you believe it's not the toilet, can you put a valve on the mystery water line, shut it off and see what this control's?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Cass]

How do you know, what led you to believe, you had a leak between the street and the house?

 

[tlyden]

Re: Mystery Leak

Regarding replacing the main water line- when I shut off the main on my house, water could still be heard running to the house, in between the house and the main. This is why we replaced the main.

The mystery leak continues but I've isolated to some type of regulator valve which leads to the line that runs into the basement foundation floor. A contractor friend came over this morning and stated he had never seen a cold line run into the floor before. Today I am going to cap that line and see what happens. This is easiest to test, it gets more complicated to put in a valve.

More to come! Thanks for your replies and interest...

 

[Redwood]

Before you cap anything lets see a picture of this "Regulator Valve" I'm thinking we might just be talking relief valve which is not something to be capped!

 

[Garydaplummer]

Trap primer

Also it could be a trap primer for a floor drain in the basement. A picture would be helpful.

 

[tlyden]

Mystery leak pic

Here is a pic of the valve. The shiny part is duct tape (not my work) and I can feel the water traveling down this section. It then runs to the wall and goes downward into the basement floor. Any ideas on this valve? I bought an end cap today and will cap it off tonight unless anyone has any objections/solutions/recommendations. Thanks!

 

[tlyden]

RE: Mystery Leak

Hi-
I removed the duct tape and low and behold this is some type of valve which seems to not be functioning correctly. Water is shooting through it where it goes to the line which runs down the wall of the basement into the floor. After shutting off the house main it takes several minutes for all the cold water to drain from my basement sink to clear the lines, most likely due to this valve. More pics below.

 

[hj]

valve

That is a trap primer for the basement floor drain. You cannot "cap it off" because it will still leak. You either repair it or replace it.

 

[wannakracka]

Similar "mystery leak"

I have the same set up in my basement. A few days ago I noticed a huge puddle in my basement. Water is dripping out of the 2 holes of my trap primer. What could be the cause???? Trap primer malfunction (i.e. trap disc is staying in the "open" position)??? Clogged drains causing back pressure and overflow up to the holes in the trap primer??? Any information would help! I really don't have the money right now to hire a professional. My trap primer is similar to the one seen in the link below:

http://www.matt.watts.com/pdf/1915064.pdf

 

[hj]

Tp

If there is too much water for the drain line, or the drain line is obstructed the excess WILL come out of the openings on the valve.