Pipe locating

[Stevenlouis]

Does anyone out there have a way to locate a copper water pipe running under a slab. I have a leak in my line somewhere between the holding tank 60 feet from the house and my basement. I'm trying to figure out where to dig by the basement as there is no indication where the line might exit the house. If anyone has a great way to locate a leak without digging up the entire line also, I'm all ears.

 

[hj]

You call a professional pipe AND leak locating company.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Terry]

You call a professional pipe AND leak locating company.

It's a lot faster to call in someone that can listen to and locate where the leak is. It saves a lot of digging.

 

[Stevenlouis]

Wow! Thank you both for the rapid response. Since you are both plumbers, I'd like to run another question by you. Murphy's Law would have the leak somewhere under the slab in the basement. To get to it, I am going to have to dig down at least 8 ft (not to mention tearing up a lot of concrete floor). Would it make more sense to just run a new line and punch a hole in the concrete basement wall so that I will always have easy access to the water inflow line and just abandon the existing line?

 

[hj]

WHY would you dig down 8', if the line is right under the concrete floor? You cannot know HOW to fix it until you know WHERE it is.

 

[PlumbSolve]

new pipe will be cheaper.

 

[WorthFlorida]

What feeds this holding tank? Well pump or city water? Is it a pressure tank? What makes you think you have a leak? Is there a check valve from the water supply to this tank? It might be allowing the water to flow back to the source. Is this holding tank at a higher elevation where gravity is the only source of pressure (low). I would think a straight line from the tank to the house is the best bet where the pipe is buried. If there is a tree in the way, roots might have lifted it and cause a crack.

 

[Wrenched]

Hey Stevenlouis,

as both Terry and hj have pointed out, line/leak detecting is an area of specialization even among plumbers. The equipment ranges from a few to several thousand dollars and requires a significant time investment to become skilled using it. A simple leak detection can take an hour or two, not including repair, and harder ones of course take longer. The good news is that copper is one of the easier piping materials to find leaks on, the bad news is the deeper the leaks are, the harder they are to find.

The typical process is to first locate and mark the waterline with a line locator, and then listen along the line with a ground microphone. If the results are ambiguous, the plumber may then try charging the line with compressed gas to increase the leak noise, or charge the line with helium or H2/N2 and use a gas detector to locate the leak.

Recommendations depend a lot on how old the line is, and how much effort/cost it would take to repair vs replace. Installing a new line is sometimes a better value, especially if you can provide some of the sweat equity.

Good luck!

 

[Dj2]

If by-passing the pipe under the slab is possible, it might be cheaper to do than locating the leak, in most cases.
Locating a leak with the help of a leak locating machine can break your bank.
Remember to find out how deep your frost line is. When you dig, beware of other pipes and wires in the area.