Fountain Leaking?

[James E. Braun, CMI]

I recently have been asked to figure out why a seller's yard was wet. I water witched the yard and it appears to be leaking water around the concrete poured with sandstone covering water fountain in front of the house. Only about six inch wide walls. They have already drained the lawn irrigation system and the yard is still wet. They have not noticed any above normal usage of water either. I was thinking about draining the fountain completely dry and using a thermal camera on warm day (the bottom of the fountain would need to be warm too) and see if there is any water underneath the fountain. Does anybody else have a better idea? This home is involved in a real estate listing so we do not have the time to just drain the fountain and see if the ground dries up.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

There got to be somebody smart enough out there to figure out how is the best way to find this leak. I am open for suggestions!

[Stephen W. Stanczyk]

Use clear fluorescent tracers. A simple water based dye that is clear until seen with a black light. The one I use shows up as a bright blue. Costs about $15 but you might find it cheaper on the internet somewhere. Similar to the stuff they put in antifreeze to find a leak on your car.

[John Harrison]

Where does the city water suppy come in at. If they are not noticing a increase in thier water bill could it be a leak from the city main??

[James E. Braun, CMI]

The city already looked at the main and they siad it was fine.

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

Shut off all water in the home and look at the meter. If you see the trickle gauge spinning, you know it is a leak in the plumbing supply lines. This should be either a little blue star shaped dial or red triangle on the face of the meter. This will tell you if there is a leak at some point past the water meter.

If that is not the case, they may have to have the water shut off at the street and drop the meter to do a pressure test on the service entry to determine if that is leaking.

They might want to also have a sewer lateral video inspection done. A cracked sewer line can allow water to accumulate in the yard and the foundation wall as well.

[John R. Fordyce]

Originally Posted by jharrison

Where does the city water suppy come in at. If they are not noticing a increase in thier water bill could it be a leak from the city main??

as he said...it appears there must be some sort of a subsurface water problem. I've seen underground springs cause yards to be constantly wet.

[Russell J. Hensel]

Is it in a gated community? We had a job here where the sprinkler system for the golf course ran through the yard and ended up bursting under the master bathroom creating a large water fountain inside the house.

I agree to shut off the water at the house main and see if the meter is still turning. Never trust a municipal worker..

[ldapkus]

Rent a leak detector Any CMI (or ASHI Inspector) would know that!!

[James E. Braun, CMI]

About a month ago, I was in this small town and the city utility company had one trying to locate a water line. After about an hour, I walked our there with my piece of galvanized wire and showed them where it was. Sad but true.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Originally Posted by rhensel

Is it in a gated community? We had a job here where the sprinkler system for the golf course ran through the yard and ended up bursting under the master bathroom creating a large water fountain inside the house.

I agree to shut off the water at the house main and see if the meter is still turning. Never trust a municipal worker..

No gated community, it is a sub division. I have not even had time to mess with finding the leak yet.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Originally Posted by jfordyce

as he said...it appears there must be some sort of a subsurface water problem. I've seen underground springs cause yards to be constantly wet.

The buyer asked about a possibility of a spring, I told him I hope not because the basement is about another 10 feet down and there would probably be a lot of hydrostatic pressure under the floor of the basement.

The funny part is the owner is arguing there is nothing wrong with his fountain, it is a half fountain that splashes a full stream of water against the brick veneer of the home.