3 Signs You Need Water Main Repair

20 June 2018
 Categories: , Blog

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Your home's water main is a large underground pipe located near the edge of your property that connects your home's plumbing system to the local or municipal plumbing system. Most homeowners never think about their water main until something goes wrong. If your water main is blocked, cracked, or otherwise not working properly, this can quickly lead to big problems like backed up pipes throughout your home, and even sewage leaks or floods on your property. Here are a few of the biggest signs to look for:

Standing Water in Your Yard

If a leak originates in a broken water main, the first place where the leak will become obvious is often in your yard near the location of the main. A tell-tale sign is soggy grass and standing water in a section of your yard, especially if you haven't watered the yard lately and it hasn't been raining.

Unexplained puddles or pools of water are a sign that there is a leak just underground and the leaking water is rising up to the surface of your yard. If it goes unrepaired, the leaks will soon spread to other parts of your property and home, and the standing water can attract mosquitoes and other pests.

Water Bill Increasing Dramatically

Another common sign of a leaking or broken water main is a dramatic increase in your water bill with no other explanation, such as visiting guests taking long showers or an increased lawn-watering schedule. Any leaking pipe underground can lead to an increase in your water bill, but since your main is such a large pipe the leaking will waste much more water. This means the jump in your bill will be especially noticeable.

Presence of Unpleasant Odor

Finally, when a water main is not working properly there is often an unpleasant sewage smell in your yard or even inside your home, especially coming from sinks, toilets, and drains. The explanation for this unpleasant problem is that when your water main is broken or seriously clogged, your home's waste and sewage isn't able to flow away into the city's wastewater system. Instead, some of your home's waste stays put or backs up into your plumbing system, causing unpleasant odors.

A water main in need of repair is not something to overlook. When you notice any of these problems, it's important that you call a water main specialist right away. For more information, contact companies like EA Tapping.