How big a small leak gets
By EPA WaterSense's count, leaks in a typical home throw away upward of 9,300 gallons a year, and nearly one home in ten loses 50 gallons or more every single day. Most of those are drips and running toilets you can hear. The ones that cost the most are the ones you can't: a pinhole inside a wall, a cracked fitting above a ceiling, or a buried service line leaking into the yard.
Try the meter test first
Every home on the city system has a meter, usually in a box near the street, and that meter is the cheapest leak detector you own. Here's how to use it:
- Turn everything off. Make sure no faucets, toilets, washer, dishwasher, ice maker or irrigation zones are running.
- Read the meter. Lift the meter box lid and note the reading, or watch the small leak indicator on the dial.
- Wait and recheck. Give it an hour or two without using water. If the reading changed or the indicator turns, water is going somewhere.
- Close the house valve. If the meter still moves with the main house valve shut, the leak is likely in the buried line between the meter and the house.
On a private well, watch the pressure tank gauge instead. If the pressure drops and the pump kicks on with everything off, the leak is somewhere between the tank and the fixtures, or in the line from the well.
Underground water leak detection in Mustang
The service line between the meter and the house, and on acreage the line from the well to the house, can run a long way underground. Mustang's soils make those leaks harder to spot. NRCS maps most of the city as well-drained loamy and sandy soil, so a buried leak can soak away without surfacing. Where the ground thins to shallow sandstone, as in Ironmound soils just 10 to 20 inches deep to rock, water can travel along the rock and appear somewhere other than over the leak.
We trace the line's route, listen for the leak with acoustic ground microphones, and use pressure testing to confirm which section is losing water. Once it's pinpointed, the repair is a small excavation instead of a dug-up yard. If the line is old and has leaked before, replacing the whole run may be the better long-term choice, and we'll tell you so.
After the leak is found
Finding the leak is half the job. We repair it the same way we'd want it done in our own house: cut back to sound pipe, use the right fittings for the material, support the line properly and pressure test it before closing anything up. If the leak was in a wall or ceiling, we keep the opening tidy so drywall repair is simple. If the house sits empty for stretches, ask about a smart shutoff valve that closes the main on its own when it senses water flowing where it shouldn't.
For more on our tools and repair methods, see the main water leak detection and repair page. You can also explore the rest of our Mustang plumber services.