HELP, please! Sprinkler system repair?

[Kyras]

Does anyone have someone to recommend for yard sprinkler trouble-shooting and repair? ASAP, please.

My water bill went up even though I was gone for 11 of the 33 days of my last water bill. I started investigating by learning which meter was my water meter, and reading it. Then I figured out how to use my sprinkler timer, and I checked into what each of the valves was watering. I have watched the meter dial spin with each of my five sprinkler valves. I discovered that on valve 4, I can hear water running straight into a drainage pipe, and I can see it flowing out into the street, as if I had a hose turned on. I don't know where the leak is, but I am assuming I have a broken pipe or valve, and it's somehow leaking straight into the drainage pipe to the street.

I thought I'd look for recommendations before I just start calling out of the yellow pages.

Thank you in advance, for any help you can give.

 

[jukngene]

Does anyone have someone to recommend for yard sprinkler trouble-shooting and repair? ASAP, please.

My water bill went up even though I was gone for 11 of the 33 days of my last water bill. I started investigating by learning which meter was my water meter, and reading it. Then I figured out how to use my sprinkler timer, and I checked into what each of the valves was watering. I have watched the meter dial spin with each of my five sprinkler valves. I discovered that on valve 4, I can hear water running straight into a drainage pipe, and I can see it flowing out into the street, as if I had a hose turned on. I don't know where the leak is, but I am assuming I have a broken pipe or valve, and it's somehow leaking straight into the drainage pipe to the street.

I thought I'd look for recommendations before I just start calling out of the yellow pages.

Thank you in advance, for any help you can give.

I'd like to help, as I have a great sprinkler guy (Mauricio), but he's 2,500 miles away.

 

[Kyras]

Thanks for nothing, Gene. :wink:

I went online and within 40 seconds of filling out a problem form, I got a call from a repair guy, who has good customer reviews. His name is Dan Park and he'll be out tomorrow. He's hard to understand, Asian, I think. I'm sure it will be easier in person.

 

[jukngene]

Thanks for nothing, Gene. :wink:

I went online and within 40 seconds of filling out a problem form, I got a call from a repair guy, who has good customer reviews. His name is Dan Park and he'll be out tomorrow. He's hard to understand, Asian, I think. I'm sure it will be easier in person.

:thumbup:

 

[socalx]

patty, i just got your message on my cell phone (it is a long story why just now) do you still need the phone number you were asking for or are you covered with the above repair person.

please call my home number.. i'm emailing it to you .. if you need help

 

[Miner]

Patty,

There might be a shutoff valve on top of the valve that you can turn (tighten) to stop the flow. From the sound of it you may have a broken pipe on the output side of the valve. I'm not sure that would cause a spike in your bill unless you have also increased your watering schedule. When you looked at the meter (and the sprinklers etc off) did you see the little red triangle spinning? If so, there is some kind of water leak in the plumbing.

Miner

 

[Kyras]

patty, i just got your message on my cell phone (it is a long story why just now) do you still need the phone number you were asking for or are you covered with the above repair person.

please call my home number.. i'm emailing it to you .. if you need help

Thank you, Tom. I just read the email. I'll see if this guy works out on Friday, and if not I'll call. I hope things are okay.

 

[Kyras]

Patty,

There might be a shutoff valve on top of the valve that you can turn (tighten) to stop the flow. From the sound of it you may have a broken pipe on the output side of the valve. I'm not sure that would cause a spike in your bill unless you have also increased your watering schedule. When you looked at the meter (and the sprinklers etc off) did you see the little red triangle spinning? If so, there is some kind of water leak in the plumbing.

Miner

That sounds logical. I don't know where the valves are. From my past experience, in my home in Acton of 22 years, valves were in a green box but I haven't seen any at this house. I did look at the meter and did see the red triangle spinning, when the sprinklers were on, but not otherwise. The lawn really makes it go fast. My guess is that the broken pipe is somehow feeding the drains from my back yard, that flow out into the gutter in front of the house. I had new outdoor lights installed a couple months ago. Maybe one punctured a pipe? The trouble seems to be near a sprinkler that isn't working right now, even though I put a new insert in it after I found that the top was blown off. I hope Dan Park can figure it out tomorrow (Friday). BTW, thank you for your input.

 

[jukngene]

Were you able to get it fixed? If so, what was the problem?

 

[Kyras]

Not yet, Gene. Dan Park came and he can't get to it until next Thursday, if I okay his bid. He agrees there is a leak in the valve 4 water line, since the sprinklers on that line aren't getting enough water pressure. He plans to dig up the area at the high end of that line, thinking he'll find a broken sprinkler pipe that just happens to be next to a broken drain pipe. I don't think that's going to be the case. The water coming out into the street flows like you have a hose running, not some dribble that is soaking from one pipe into another. We did find the correct valve on the side of the house, with the other water valves, and he didn't see anything wrong with it. Dan is convinced that my valve 4 problem is not causing an additional water usage. I'm convinced he's wrong. We'll, see.

I received another phone call/message on my machine, from a repair man, who got an email from my online request. I called him back once, and will call him again, to get him to come give me his opinion and price.

 

[Miner]

That sounds logical. I don't know where the valves are. From my past experience, in my home in Acton of 22 years, valves were in a green box but I haven't seen any at this house. I did look at the meter and did see the red triangle spinning, when the sprinklers were on, but not otherwise. The lawn really makes it go fast. My guess is that the broken pipe is somehow feeding the drains from my back yard, that flow out into the gutter in front of the house. I had new outdoor lights installed a couple months ago. Maybe one punctured a pipe? The trouble seems to be near a sprinkler that isn't working right now, even though I put a new insert in it after I found that the top was blown off. I hope Dan Park can figure it out tomorrow (Friday). BTW, thank you for your input.

There should be a manual adjustment knob on the valve 4 that you can turn (clockwise) to shut off the flow to that circuit. Or you could change the settings on your sprinkler timer to shut off the zone.

With a broken pipe on the zone, it will use a bit more water than normal for that zone depending on how the system is designed. Could it be the OC went into summer rates vs the usual winter rates for water this month?

Miner

 

[Kyras]

The 2 PM guy, Cade, called and won't be here until around 4 PM, today.


Miner, I did already change the timer to 0 minutes for valve 4. It wasn't that my bill was high, it was that the water usage went up when I expected it to go down. It was still only $88.

 

[Kyras]

So, as Ca AGNSX (Steve) recommended today at Cars and Coffee, I turned on the valve and went around looking in all the drains I could find. BTW, the valve seems okay. There was hardly any water in the drains, although I could see a large amount flowing out into the street, as if a hose was turned on. I'm beginning to think that there is a broken pipe under the side walkway at the sprinkler closest to the street, on that line (valve 4). The fake brick walkway is broken and sunken a little bit there. It seems to be a little wetter than it should be from the sprinkler nearby. I'm going to try to steer Cade that way, to see what he thinks. I really don't think it's got anything to do with the other end of the sprinkler line, the top of it, where Dan Park wants to dig up.

 

[Kyras]

So, Cade was here. Didn't find the problem. It's a stumper. Did find one problem with a leak coming up in a planter but it was on a different valve and not related to the big problem. He'll be back on Monday to fix that and try to figure out where the other problem stems from. Seems to be a leaking line on valve 4 that happens to be getting into a crack on the drain line, as we already knew.:frown:

 

[Kyras]

Update as of 7:30 PM, Sunday. I got out the yellow pages today and found out there are Leak Detecting Services. I called one, and Keith from Power Pro Plumbing came over. He ended up plugging all the sprinkler heads and then putting on headphones. He used a metered probe to listen to the sounds in the ground near the sprinkler heads. He found one noisy one and determined there was a leak there. He dug up the ground and there is a leak with water flowing although he couldn't pinpoint the source due to the roots in the area. He will be back tomorrow to dig more, and will use power tools to get through all the roots. He thinks by repairing that leak, the flow to the street will stop. The sprinkler is next to my jacuzzi and he thinks the water is flowing under the fake rock jacuzzi and getting into a drain, that he thinks must be under it. I sure hope he's right!

^Can you find the cat on the wall pilaster? That bush just to the left, underneath it, seems to be the culprit. I've cut it all out, but the roots are where the leaking sprinkler head is. This is an old photo, from springtime. It's not that green on the other side of the wall anymore.

 

[socalx]

glad you are making progress, that makes sense

 

[Kyras]

:frown::frown:

Back to the drawing board. A leaking pipe was found and repaired. Water valve was turned on and the problem persists. I couldn't understand how a leaking pipe could produce the big flow I see coming out in the street. It can't.

 

[jukngene]

Wow...that is very perplexing!

Just by chance, did the previous owner leave a drawing (map) of the sprinkler system anywhere? The company that installed the system should have done that. If not, maybe you can find out who installed it and call them. They should have the layout. Just a thought.

 

[Kyras]

Wow...that is very perplexing!

Just by chance, did the previous owner leave a drawing (map) of the sprinkler system anywhere? The company that installed the system should have done that. If not, maybe you can find out who installed it and call them. They should have the layout. Just a thought.

No drawings. I am the third owner and the first owner put it the sprinklers, in 1994.

The guy here now, Keith, thinks he hears another leak so he's going to cap off a pipe and see if the flow stops, but he doesn't know which direction the water is flowing in that pipe that he cut. May work or may not. Another truck is supposed to be on it's way with a camera to send up the drain.

 

[Kyras]

:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

Keith found and fixed the problem! There was a sprinkler line, (from before the jacuzzi or concrete patio was installed) that evidently was abandoned, and had been plugged on the end. The end must have come off, so the water was flowing out it heavy duty. Once Keith cut into this pipe and put a plug on the end, the problem stopped. Yeay! There must be a drain under the concrete, too, near this pipe end, because somehow the water was flowing into the drains that flow out into the street. No more. I have photos. I may post some later.

 

[Miner]

:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

Keith found and fixed the problem! There was a sprinkler line, (from before the jacuzzi or concrete patio was installed) that evidently was abandoned, and had been plugged on the end. The end must have come off, so the water was flowing out it heavy duty. Once Keith cut into this pipe and put a plug on the end, the problem stopped. Yeay! There must be a drain under the concrete, too, near this pipe end, because somehow the water was flowing into the drains that flow out into the street. No more. I have photos. I may post some later.

Good to hear. Sounds like the ground was well landscaped originally to allow the excess water to drain out of the soil and down to the street.

I wonder if there was a sprinkler head (or 2) that were abandoned when the jacuzzi was installed?

Hopefully your water consumption will decrease to a good level.

Miner

 

[jukngene]

:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

Keith found and fixed the problem! There was a sprinkler line, (from before the jacuzzi or concrete patio was installed) that evidently was abandoned, and had been plugged on the end. The end must have come off, so the water was flowing out it heavy duty. Once Keith cut into this pipe and put a plug on the end, the problem stopped. Yeay! There must be a drain under the concrete, too, near this pipe end, because somehow the water was flowing into the drains that flow out into the street. No more. I have photos. I may post some later.

:thumbup: Glad your mystery leak is solved! :smile:

 

[Kyras]

Thanks, Gene. After four days of trouble shooting, it, I am relieved. And poorer by $650.

 

[jukngene]

Thanks, Gene. After four days of trouble shooting, it, I am relieved. And poorer by $650.

Hey...you're sounding like someone else we know and love!

 

[Kyras]

You'd better not mean PA Jerry. Don't you think $650 is steep? I'm considering calling the owner to whine.