I suspect I have a leaky tee fitting in a CVPC underground pipe, but would like to confirm it. My first thought is to install some sort of sensitive flow meter inside the house before the pipe exits, but I haven’t been able to find such a unit. (The pipe only serves two yard hydrants which are usually off, so I thought a flow meter would be an easy indicator). Anyone know if this exists or if there is a better test?
Thanks,
Scott.
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.â€
Edited 3/25/2007 3:15 pm by Scott
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I just started a thread about repairing a leak similiar to this. Look at http://www.fixaleak.com seems like it is the magic bullet but have absolutely no idea it would work as advertised. If you could get the stuff in the line somehow it could seal you leak without having to go through all the problems of finding the leak and tearing up the yard to repair the pipe.
As far as a flow meter, they do make flow meters to place on the outside of pipes to determine flow without breaking the integrity of the pipe. But they are pretty expensive.
I did find a in-line meter at http://www.notherntools.com for $99 but the minimum gallonage was 2 gpm's. Your leak is probably less than that.
One way I could tell of leaks was to shut down all use of water in the house then go look at the water meter at the street where the supply comes into the property and see if you have a flow. Of course this is assumed you have city water and have the meter installed. Not sure of your situation.
Semper Fi
"To be young and a conservative, you have no heart"
"To be old and a liberal, you have no mind"
Winston Churchill
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."
PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN, 1985
There are services that perform ultrasonic detection. Commerical sites use them for leaking fire mains, for example. I don't know the price, but I imagine the service is too expensive for a residential situation.
CPVC is not the best material for underground, it can be a bit on the brittle side. Black polyethylene is often a better choice.
I think you're right about the cost/benefit. It's bound to be a small leak and commercial testers aren't worth it. It actually is black poly (series 160); I get all these plastic pipes confused......Time to dig it up I guess, I know approx. where the tee is.Thanks,Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Why dig it up if you don't know it's leaking?
Ozlander
>>>Why dig it up if you don't know it's leaking?Exactly, hence my question. I have a suspicion that it's leaking because after closing the shutoff for a while and the opening it there is a noticeable inrush of water (I know 'a while' is vague, more evidence needs to be gathered). I also remember that the tee I put in seemed a bit stressed before backfilling, but with the clock ticking and dollars adding up I decided to cover it. Oh well.....Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
A friend of mine hired a company that pumps helium into the pipe, and then "sniffs for the gas through the ground. Worked well enough to find the leak in his soft copper pipe, but I don't know if that works with CPVC. Change out the pipe to cross linked polyethylene....
Are there slab leak specialists in your area? They use a device to listen to the lines in order to determine location of leaks pipes under concrete slabs.