Water troubles

Last Thursday, the city came around and read the meters (gas, electric, water) as usual.   Some time on Friday a supervisor came by and re-read the meters.  I came home late afternoon to find a "lovely" red tag on my doorknob informing me of high water usage... more than double our normal use!  UGH!

There was no water running in the house... and yet the meter was spinning away!  I turned the shutoff valve in the basement... and still the meter was spinning! That meant there was a leak somewhere between the meter and my house. Since there were no puddles in the yard, best guess is that the leak was under the concrete slab the house was built on.  I opened the phonebook and was able to get two repair quotes before dark(one extremely high and the other comparably quite low) and the advice to call the 811 number and have all utility lines marked so work could start ASAP.  I waited for a third quote by a plumber highly recommended by one of the girls in my church group.

Scott learned his trade working with his dad, and took over his dad's business when he retired.  He is licensed and insured and a pleasure to work with!

First, the outside work.  Start with some hand digging near the house to avoid the gas line.    



Then pull out the trencher to dig across the yard and down 18in (below the frost line) to bury the new water line.

new line running under gas line into house

 

Outside work complete. 

Next, inside he capped off and removed the old incoming pipes and filter from under the bench in the center of the house in my quilting room

and hooked into the lines near the front of the house and installed a more easily accessable filter in my sewing room closet.

I'll just get a small tension rod and make a curtain to hide this rather than installing a wall with access door in the side of my closet.

Mission accomplished!  and the meter is no longer spinning like a top!