⚠️ Underground Leak Detection

Underground Water Line Leak Detection

Meter running with everything shut off? The leak is underground. We find it without digging up your yard.

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🚨 Signs of an Underground Leak
  • Meter spinning with all valves closed
  • Wet patch in yard with no explanation
  • Green strip of grass over your water line
  • Water bill climbing month over month

Why Underground Leaks Are Hard to Find — And Easy to Miss

Your water service line runs from the meter at the street to your foundation — often 20 to 100 feet of 3/4" or 1" pipe, buried 18 to 36 inches underground. When it fails, there's often nothing visible at the surface for weeks or months.

The water escapes, saturates the soil around the pipe, and either rises slowly to the surface (wet yard patch) or drains away harmlessly — while your meter registers every gallon. Many homeowners discover an underground leak only when their water bill doubles or their utility sends a high-usage alert.

The Excavation Trap

Without detection equipment, the only way to find a buried leak is to excavate — which can mean digging up your entire service line. We locate the failure point first. The excavation that follows is measured in feet, not the full run of the pipe.

Detection Cost

$150 – $350

Single service line. Applied toward repair when booked same day.

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Green Strip Test

A bright green strip of grass or weeds directly over your service line — while the surrounding grass is normal — is a classic sign of an underground leak feeding the root zone.

How We Locate Underground Leaks

Ground Acoustic Listening

We place ground microphones at multiple points along the service line and listen for the frequency signature of pressurized water escaping through the pipe wall. The signal is strongest directly above the break point.

Tracer Gas Detection

Non-toxic helium-nitrogen tracer gas is introduced into the pipe. It escapes at the leak point, travels up through the soil, and our surface-mounted sensor detects it within inches — accurate even through clay, rock, or paved surfaces.

Pressure Testing

We cap the line at the foundation entry point and pressurize the service line independently. A sustained pressure drop confirms the leak is in the underground run — not inside the home.

Line Location First

Before any detection, we use electronic pipe locating equipment to trace the exact path of your service line — so we know where to listen and where to probe, not just roughly where the line probably is.

Underground Leak FAQ

Acoustic detection is reliable to about 4–6 feet of depth depending on soil conditions. Tracer gas detection works at greater depths because the gas migrates to the surface regardless of how deep the pipe is buried. For most residential service lines (18–36 inches), acoustic detection is sufficient and faster.
Yes. Tracer gas detection works through paved surfaces — the gas escapes the soil at the nearest available point, and our sensor detects it at the surface. For leaks under driveways, this is often the only non-destructive option, and it locates the problem precisely before any concrete removal happens.
Acoustic detection requires active water pressure in the line. If the city shut off your main, we can pressurize the line independently using our equipment for detection purposes. We handle this coordination — you don't need to deal with the utility first.
Depends on the pipe material and age. A single copper joint failure in a 20-year-old line usually means just that joint needs repair. A polybutylene or galvanized line showing one failure in a 50-year-old line may have multiple thin spots — we'll tell you honestly whether spot repair or full replacement makes more economic sense long-term.

Meter Running With Everything Off? That's an Underground Leak.

We find it and fix it the same day. No digging your entire yard first.

(877) 326-0672 Schedule Same-Day