yannick
New Member
I've been replacing the plumbing since awhile in my house. Water was shut at the city valve service box on my front lawn in September (I don't live there yet).
I got delayed because of stuff outside the plumbing, in my general life.
Mind, this is in Canada, cold winters, so underground lines are 6ft deep and below the basement floor, and it pops out of the basement floor. I cut in january that section, and proceeded to learn how to solder ball valves, so I had a few tries on the line.
Recently I soldered what would be the final try for my main shutoff ball valve (the first "line of defense" in the basement basically, after that it would be the underground service box valve that connects to the city). And then I soldered to it a fitting to connect a compressor hose. I wanted to test it for air leaks.
In january, when I cut the previously existing old gate valve, there was no water in the vertical section going from the basement floor to the ceiling of the basement (I never had touched it before).
At the time I was already surprised and suspected a leak could be the cause. I had left a few sinks open since September, I thought maybe there had been evaporation, so I didn't mind about it.
Today I proceeded to do turn on the compressor at the new main valve I soldered, but to my surprise, it seems the pressure gauge needle doesn't go past 22psi. As if there was a leak in my underground line. I'm starting to panic.. Obviously, it would cost a lot to replace that line.
On the polybutylene pipes I removed, I see a brown film inside the pipes as well, could that be soil in the line?
I wonder what should I do next... I never put too much flux when soldering, I highly doubt I damaged the pipe myself. I don't feel air between the floor and the main shutoff ball valve I soldered, so the section of the pipe above my basement floor doesn't leak.
Could it be that the service box valve has a system that releases the pressure when that valve is closed? In other words, I wonder if it could be something else than an underground pipe leak, something else than the worse that could possibly happen.
P.S. My underground line is type K copper btw. We don't pay for water, so I don't have a water meter to my knowledge.
I got delayed because of stuff outside the plumbing, in my general life.
Mind, this is in Canada, cold winters, so underground lines are 6ft deep and below the basement floor, and it pops out of the basement floor. I cut in january that section, and proceeded to learn how to solder ball valves, so I had a few tries on the line.
Recently I soldered what would be the final try for my main shutoff ball valve (the first "line of defense" in the basement basically, after that it would be the underground service box valve that connects to the city). And then I soldered to it a fitting to connect a compressor hose. I wanted to test it for air leaks.
In january, when I cut the previously existing old gate valve, there was no water in the vertical section going from the basement floor to the ceiling of the basement (I never had touched it before).
At the time I was already surprised and suspected a leak could be the cause. I had left a few sinks open since September, I thought maybe there had been evaporation, so I didn't mind about it.
Today I proceeded to do turn on the compressor at the new main valve I soldered, but to my surprise, it seems the pressure gauge needle doesn't go past 22psi. As if there was a leak in my underground line. I'm starting to panic.. Obviously, it would cost a lot to replace that line.
On the polybutylene pipes I removed, I see a brown film inside the pipes as well, could that be soil in the line?
I wonder what should I do next... I never put too much flux when soldering, I highly doubt I damaged the pipe myself. I don't feel air between the floor and the main shutoff ball valve I soldered, so the section of the pipe above my basement floor doesn't leak.
Could it be that the service box valve has a system that releases the pressure when that valve is closed? In other words, I wonder if it could be something else than an underground pipe leak, something else than the worse that could possibly happen.
P.S. My underground line is type K copper btw. We don't pay for water, so I don't have a water meter to my knowledge.
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