Under ground water line.

[Dusty MI]

With a pair of L shaped wires I can trace under-ground lines.
I have an under-ground plastic water pipe that froze and broke this winter. Like said I can trace them with my L Bent Wires, but is there anyway tell where it is broke before digging?
Thanks,
Dusty

 

[Blue Jay]

Only way I know of is look for wet ground and start digging.

 

[joeysmith]

Use a rod to probe the ground as you go
Hopefully its somewhat dry in your area
Look for softer than usual ground with the probe
Sometimes you'll bring back a little mud

 

[moresmoke]

If you are good at dowsing follow along your water line with the intent of locating the leak. Wires should cross near it. Then approach from the other direction and split the difference between the two indicated spots.

 

[Tony in SD]

I've been in the construction business for over 40 years. There is no accurate way to pin point a leak that I know of.

 

[Dusty MI]

I âm good at dowsing.
You give me idea. I'm going to trace and mark the water line/trench.
Then make rather deep soil sampler or a rather long, but small, maybe 1/2" earth auger, so I can pull up small earth samples.
Thanks,
Dusty

 

[joeysmith]

I âm good at dowsing.
You give me idea. I'm going to trace and mark the water line/trench.
Then make rather deep soil sampler or a rather long, but small, maybe 1/2" earth auger, so I can pull up small earth samples.
Thanks,
Dusty

How deep is it?
A 3/8 ths rod with a T handle is what we used
But 3 ft is our max bury depth usually for frost

 

[Steve in VA]

I âm good at dowsing.
You give me idea. I'm going to trace and mark the water line/trench.
Then make rather deep soil sampler or a rather long, but small, maybe 1/2" earth auger, so I can pull up small earth samples.
Thanks,
Dusty

If I did that, I'd hit the line and puncture it every bore. But that's just me luck. Hope it works out for you.

 

[rrlund]

Turn it on. You'll find it.

 

[Ray,IN]

I've been in the construction business for over 40 years. There is no accurate way to pin point a leak that I know of.

Occasionally a big leak can be heard with an underground leak finder. https://www.witsengineer.com/best-underground-water-leak-detectors/
For a household, I'm not sure.
Dusty might call around and find one for rent, they are expensive to purchase. (around $3,000 and up)

 

[Gary Reif]

At work we had a water line leak under a concrete covered lot. They used some kind of listening device to find it. Don't have any information on what it was.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

I have a thin metal rod with a 6mm twist drill welded onto one end and a T handle on the other . It's reasonably easy to push into the soil , when withdrawing it soil clings to the drill flutes bringing up a sample . Wet soil should show up fairly easily .

 

[trackrat]

Used to do waterline repairs on fire sprinkler systems have spent many hours searching for leaks on 6 to 12 in water mains, most times where they surfaced on big water lines, they are usually bedded in sand water always follows the path of least of resistance. We did repairs on Bell helicopter plants fire systems around FT Worth Texas, they had many engineers who all wanted to tell us what to do and where to dig, they had not a clue where anything was or how to fix it

 

[craigco]

You can get a leak detector. Basically a big stethoscope and you listen for the water/bubbles. If you can hook an air compressor to it you can really here the bubbles. There are companies that will do it as well. My buddy bought one off Amazon for not a lot. Found the leak within 3 inches of where they heard it.

 

[trackrat]

You can get a leak detector. Basically a big stethoscope and you listen for the water/bubbles. If you can hook an air compressor to it you can really here the bubbles. There are companies that will do it as well. My buddy bought one off Amazon for not a lot. Found the leak within 3 inches of where they heard it.

have used those, on bigger water lines near manufacturing plants too much background noise for those to work very well but if it's quiet they will work pretty well

 

[Dusty MI]

Got it fixed. My wife reminded me where I turn it off and drain it. I've lost the use of have my mind, and don't remember things well.
Thanks,
Dusty

 

[showcrop]

With a pair of L shaped wires I can trace under-ground lines.
I have an under-ground plastic water pipe that froze and broke this winter. Like said I can trace them with my L Bent Wires, but is there anyway tell where it is broke before digging?
Thanks,
Dusty

hook up your land plow and soften the ground above it for the whole length.

 

[miangus]

I can guaranty to find a leak everywhere I dig with the backhoe.

 

[Eman85]

youtube video shows using compressed air after capping the pipe and watching for the dirt to move. I question what it would do to the pipe that isn't leaking/broken. I've been lucky in one way that I've always found a pool of water where the pipe broke. We did have to try and isolate one time, pick a spot and dig and cap the pipe after cutting. Turn water back on if no leak you now have half as much line to look at.

 

[Phill Tibbetts]

Maybe your town or city has something to help locate the leak. They deal with that stuff all the time. Our city crew is pretty accommodating if they have the equipment.