Rapidrob
Member
My water main is 1" Rolled Copper Tubing that is 125 yards long. I noticed my water bill was higher than normal and knew I had a leak somewhere in the run of tubing. I live in the desert so normally any water leaks will be shown by green plants growing very happily. This is not the case.
After two months of leaking I noticed the basement wall was wet through a small crack in the foundation. This has never happened in 31 years.
I assumed the leak was on the outside wall of the basement foundation and did an educated guess as to where it may be. As it turned out I was only a few feet off from the leak as a trickle of water was slowly flowing to the right of my hole in the ground.. The main shut off is 125 yards away and I have the tools to do so. Not a fun job when in you 70's.
My question is that the 1" rolled copper tubing is not the same size (OD and ID) as "normal" copper pipe is. When I uncover the leak, I'm not sure what will be needed to repair the leak? Once the leak is uncovered I'm sure it will be impressive and I will have to shut off the main. If the repair parts are not common, I'll be out of water until I can order them which will take several days to show up. I have soldering skills and have done repairs in the past on normal copper tubing pipe. I just installed two Ball Valves in the water main inside of the house. I can now isolate the outside water line for draining as the line is lower than my basement sink. I'm not sure if I can drain the line before the leak running the 125 yards to the water meter/shut-off. There is a slight uphill to my home.
Thank you for any helpful info.
After two months of leaking I noticed the basement wall was wet through a small crack in the foundation. This has never happened in 31 years.
I assumed the leak was on the outside wall of the basement foundation and did an educated guess as to where it may be. As it turned out I was only a few feet off from the leak as a trickle of water was slowly flowing to the right of my hole in the ground.. The main shut off is 125 yards away and I have the tools to do so. Not a fun job when in you 70's.
My question is that the 1" rolled copper tubing is not the same size (OD and ID) as "normal" copper pipe is. When I uncover the leak, I'm not sure what will be needed to repair the leak? Once the leak is uncovered I'm sure it will be impressive and I will have to shut off the main. If the repair parts are not common, I'll be out of water until I can order them which will take several days to show up. I have soldering skills and have done repairs in the past on normal copper tubing pipe. I just installed two Ball Valves in the water main inside of the house. I can now isolate the outside water line for draining as the line is lower than my basement sink. I'm not sure if I can drain the line before the leak running the 125 yards to the water meter/shut-off. There is a slight uphill to my home.
Thank you for any helpful info.
