I believe the main water valve isn’t working properly. Closed it (with repair service plumber here) and turned on a faucet. Ran (slowly) for 4 - 5 minutes. Slow enough to be a steady, albeit thin, stream of water. He averred that the valve isn’t working right, which seems right to me.
So, will get a new valve installed (a ball valve - the current one is a gate valve, maybe? The kind you have to turn the knob multiple times). I figure even if there wasn’t a leak, the house should have a working main valve. That should be done this week, then will continue with the detective work.
Also going to get part of the concrete pipe replaced, get that whole line jetted and draining properly, and get a proper clean-out installed for that pipe as well.
it is a good idea to exercise all your valves, water/gas/heat, every year or two. this can keep them from becoming stuck or unusable. being able to close a valve is a safety issue.
(bolding mine)
You’re correct, a ball valve only needs a quarter turn to open or close it, and yes, it’s a good idea to have a properly working main supply valve for your house.
You never know when you might need it, but if you do, you most definitely want it to work right.
Update: Got the ball valve installed on the main water line. Valve now works 100%, i.e., no water out of faucets when closed. However, still a leak somewhere according to the water meter.
Going to have concrete drainage pipe cleaned and a clean-out installed although that’s 99.9% NOT going to fix the leak - I can’t imagine a world in which it would fix the leak. But, one step at a time. Once that’s done, then decide what to do about the leak.
2 options are find the leak and repair it or get a new line installed. New line is probably $2K, but as mentioned, the house was built in '55 and may have the original water line, so it may be time anyway.
Last update (hopefully) for those of you still listening:
The pipe was filled with some sort of impenetrable concrete “slurry,” probably from some brick and concrete work done in the back patio. The top layer was rinsed off and probably went down the drain (intentionally) - not by us, though!
So a portion of the concrete pipe was removed and jetting / chipping away was attempted but the concrete is who-knows-how thick. So, the water will continue, during rainfall, to run across the sidewalk at that point; they’ll put in a slightly better clean-out type thing.
Also, the leak in the water line is unable to be located - it’s somewhere under some aggregate concrete steps. Faced with the choice of doing a leak detection, removing the steps, fixing the leak, re-pouring the steps, and then potentially having a new leak sprout up, we’re just getting a brand new line put in from the street.
Thanks to those who provided input - it was informative, even if we weren’t able to deduce the mystery on our own.
when you have pipes exposed, take a measuring tape and measure where the pipes are, use landmarks like corners of house and edges of sidewalks and driveway.
