Water meter keeps running - no water used

[docancho]

After receiving extremely high bill, I jumped into investigating what caused it. First, I checked for any visible leak or improper toiler bowl on my property. All seems to be working fine. Made sure no one was using the water in all 3 apartments and went to basement to check on water meter – it was running water approx 0.9 gpm (gallons per minute). I was monitoring for approx 1 hour and it was varying 0.6-0.9 gpm even though no one was using water in entire house.

When I close the main valve from street BEFORE the meter, then meter goes back to zero. Open it back up, usage goes again to 0.9 gpm.

I also closed the main value supply to house AFTER the meter, and meter goes to zero. Once open, it goes back to 0.9 gpm.

It appears as meter is okay and there must be water being used after the meter. I do not see any visible water leaks and meter keeps running like this 24/7.

Any suggestions?

 

[havasu]

Sounds like you have an underground leak somewhere. Many times you will notice moist soil or a large accumulation of efflorescence in or around concrete, such as what is seen in the picture below. You might need to hire a leak detection service to find the leak quicker.

 

[Zanne]

Didn't Chris recently have this problem without having any visible signs of water because of soil that drains efficiently?

He had to dig down to where the water entered his house to locate the leak.

 

[docancho]

I appreciate the input!

Puzzling piece here is that I am not aware of any pipes going underground for my house other than main supply line from street which goes directly into the water meter, which is in basement meter room.

After the meter, pipes branch out only above meter level -- to basement apt and 2 apts above.

However I did notice a concrete floor a wet stain at times in meter room even though there are not any pipes going underground I am aware.

 

[Zanne]

The wet stain could be from a pipe leak under the concrete then. That will not be a fun dig to look. :-(
At least you might have found the source and can now take action.

 

[havasu]

Save yourself some grief, and many unneeded holes, and pay for an expert to help you diagnose where the leak is coming from. My leak eventually cost me $5,000, but if I knew exactly where the leak was coming from, I could have dug down from my fire pit (the one in the picture) and fixed than dumb PVC fitting for about $.50!