Water meter running with no water usage?

[waffleironhead]

700 gallons just soaked into the wall?

 

[cyberia]

700 gallons just soaked into the wall?

Minus the normal usage of, say 150 gallons. I guess we will know for sure on Thursday.

 

[jaha2000]

Minus the normal usage of, say 150 gallons. I guess we will know for sure on Thursday.

YOu had to have been reading your meeting wrong. Take 5 gallons of water and dump on the floor and look at how much area gets wet. Multiply that by 100. If it was leaking in your wall adjacent to your living space the entire floor would be soaking wet. Something does not add up here.

 

[cyberia]

YOu had to have been reading your meeting wrong. Take 5 gallons of water and dump on the floor and look at how much area gets wet. Multiply that by 100. If it was leaking in your wall adjacent to your living space the entire floor would be soaking wet. Something does not add up here.

If I read the meter wrong, that would actually be a good news. That would mean the walls aren't that wet, a likelihood of mold is smaller and restoration work will be simpler. We will know for sure on Thursady.

 

[NutBucket]

It's actually a common practice here in CA. Might be different where that annoying white stuff falls from the sky.

I wasn't aware of that. Another reason to buy a house with a proper crawlspace.

Is it common in new(er) construction or older (50's-70's) construction?

 

[Greenman]

I wasn't aware of that. Another reason to buy a house with a proper crawlspace.

Is it common in new(er) construction or older (50's-70's) construction?

I still see it done in new homes, generally lower end as the better houses have raised wood floors. Though there is a small tract not far from me that are pretty nice looking houses and they all have slab floors. They might be upper end McMansions, those are very popular around here.

There is a tract just 3 miles from me and you could jump from the window of one house into the window of the house next door, and do it down the row of 30 houses.

 

[cyberia]

Just a quick update for those who are curious. I had the plumbing problem fixed on Thursday. The work took a few hours. The plumber replaced and rerouted a piece of hot water pipe not too-too far from the water heater. All of the cut walls and ceilings are in the garage, so there is relatively not that much destruction.

The wet walls are limited to a section of the garage right behind the water heater, and in the laundry room and the A/C closet that are on the opposite side of that garage wall. I have a bunch of fans and dehumidifiers running right now that are drying out the walls.

I have placed a claim with the insirance company and am yet to be contacted by a claims specialist. According to the restoration company, the drying process should not cost me anything. We will see how much the repairs will end up costing me.

I wish I didn't have to go through this ordeal, but, for sure, it might have been worse. It's life. Sometimes it gives you sour lemons. :'( :biggrin:

 

[Geepee]

Hi,
As cyberia, I have the exact problem of water meter constantly running on the hot water line (confirmed closing water line to hot water and the meter stops).

• I live in Chicago, two story house on a slab. No other faucets or toilets leaking (die test).
• No leak can be seen any where. I found out recently found out, but it is 40 days from the last water bill, which was normal. Now the meter eading is around 3-4 times of previous consumption, which is around 400 gallons/day.
• This scenario had happened 5 months before and the plumber said hot water tank is the problem and I replaced a new water heater.
• After a month of replacing the water heater, city replaced my mechanical meter to electronic one. Leak had stopped for 2 months (water reading was normal and matched last 24 months average), which is very weird unless the water heater or the water meter went bad again?

 

[Greenman]

Hi,
As cyberia, I have the exact problem of water meter constantly running on the hot water line (confirmed closing water line to hot water and the meter stops).

• I live in Chicago, two story house on a slab. No other faucets or toilets leaking (die test).
• No leak can be seen any where. I found out recently found out, but it is 40 days from the last water bill, which was normal. Now the meter eading is around 3-4 times of previous consumption, which is around 400 gallons/day.
• This scenario had happened 5 months before and the plumber said hot water tank is the problem and I replaced a new water heater.
• After a month of replacing the water heater, city replaced my mechanical meter to electronic one. Leak had stopped for 2 months (water reading was normal and matched last 24 months average), which is very weird unless the water heater or the water meter went bad again?

If the meter stops turning when the water to the heater is shut off, you have a leak. Check the PTR valve on the water heater, they sometimes go bad and start leaking. That water should be piped outside.

 

[1sikbITCH]

Smart meters, both electric and water, are constantly reporting false charges. Google it, it's a huge problem. I read a few folks here were installing their own meters between the house and the city's meter to prove it but I can't find the link now.

 

[Geepee]

I agree with both of your opinions and thank you. The ptr dumped just few drops of water and might be good. Since meter stops when main water is shut-off, it might or might not be working.
We open hot water line only when it is needed, since meter runs. Considering all these with a leak of 40 gal per 24 hrs. underground leak might be a huge possibility. A reputable plumber postponed my appointment by a week as there are lot of frozen pipe cases and issues due to sub zero temperatures.

 

[Geepee]

I agree with both of your opinions and thank you. The ptr dumped just few drops of water and might be good. Since meter stops when main water is shut-off, it might or might not be working.
We open hot water line only when it is needed, since meter runs. Considering all these with a leak of 40 gal per 24 hrs. underground leak might be a huge possibility. A reputable plumber postponed my appointment by a week as there are lot of frozen pipe cases and issues due to sub zero temperatures.

 

[Geepee]

Update:
Two plumbing companies have checked. They even have drilled in different places in kitchen and room where water meter and water heater is located, no sign of leak underground.
Leak suddenly stopped and do you think some type of continuous air movement in the lines was a possible issue? It had stopped one more time as I mentioned, it is weird and notified city. They came and checked, but haven't heard anything yet.

 

[cbrunny]

Funny. I have the opposite problem. My water meter is broken and does not move. Last month noted $0 charge. haha....

 

[highland145]

Funny. I have the opposite problem. My water meter is broken and does not move. Last month noted $0 charge. haha....

bolded for your ass.

'sup otherwise? Riding?

 

[Geepee]

Guys,
Last week I noticed meter started running. The feeling that made me look at the meter again was that I started getting slightly warm water in my faucets, when I turned the cold water side. I also replaced a cartridge on the shower last month. This was the only change I have done recently.
I'll call the same plumber again, who checked earlier this year and when he drilled holes in the slab and trying different things the meter had stopped spinning. Any suggestion is appreciated.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Well, I think you need the Sherlock Holmes of plumbers! Unless something in your piping is truly screwed up, I'd think that the only way for hot water to work its way over into the cold water side would be back feeding from the hot water heater through the cold water supply line and then up into the cold water lines. I suppose this could happen if the water heater became (dangerously) over-pressurized but that wouldn't explain the running water meter. Perhaps there is a bad leak in the water line just beyond the meter? I hope you get to the bottom of this soon!

 

[punkncat]

Late to the thread, so apologies if these have been suggested.

Have you looked at the "pop off valve" (I am sorry brain locked on the name of the valve) line. There will be a high pressure high temp pop off valve on your water tank that generally leads outside nearby onto the ground. If your tank is getting older that valve may have failed. You may also check to see if your water is too hot, indicative of a bad thermostat.

Be aware that if tank is electric and the leak in your hot water side is pulling water from it that you must also shut off the power to the tank along with turning off the water. Not doing so will damage your heating elements.

 

[shanto52]

Try not to stress OP. It's improbable there are any water lines under your chunk. When expanding on the section more often than not the water lines are situated in the upper room. So you're correct, on the off chance that you had a noteworthy hole it ought to be quite self-evident.

 

[Geepee]

Late to the thread, so apologies if these have been suggested.

Have you looked at the "pop off valve" (I am sorry brain locked on the name of the valve) line. There will be a high pressure high temp pop off valve on your water tank that generally leads outside nearby onto the ground. If your tank is getting older that valve may have failed. You may also check to see if your water is too hot, indicative of a bad thermostat.

Be aware that if tank is electric and the leak in your hot water side is pulling water from it that you must also shut off the power to the tank along with turning off the water. Not doing so will damage your heating elements.

Yes, I have tested the pressure relief valve and it is good, also when I tested, there was no pressure or heat built up. I have a gas water heater.

 

[Geepee]

Well, I think you need the Sherlock Holmes of plumbers! Unless something in your piping is truly screwed up, I'd think that the only way for hot water to work its way over into the cold water side would be back feeding from the hot water heater through the cold water supply line and then up into the cold water lines. I suppose this could happen if the water heater became (dangerously) over-pressurized but that wouldn't explain the running water meter. Perhaps there is a bad leak in the water line just beyond the meter? I hope you get to the bottom of this soon!

You are correct that hot water can get into cold water in the heater itself.

 

[Geepee]

Background: My house is on a slab and is in Chicago as my initial thread says. Gas water heater is less than an year old. Before replacing it, the meter was running without usage, and suddenly stopped without doing anything.
It again started after 3 months. Plumbers were applying pneumatic air in the lines to detect the leak, and the meter stopped running. Plumbers stopped looking for the leak.
Third time, the meter started running again, so I called the same plumbers asking how can a leak stop and start? The plumber said, it might be because some debris might have blocked the leak/hole last time. My question is, how can it be a waterproof seal if a debris block?
It is more than 200 gal leak per day and if that was right, I would have an indoor pool, but plumbers want to cut open some drywalls in two places to find branching of pipes that go to upstairs and to the kitchen from the water meter.

 

[punkncat]

Once lived in a home with a bunch of large sweetgum maples in the front. We had incredibly high water usage with no sign of where it was going. Ended up having a plumber come out with 'dousing rods' and walked back and forth between the meter and house. He told me to dig up a spot and found that we had a huge root ball around the pipe/leak and the trees were pulling all the water out.

What really sucked was that the trees died when we fixed the leak due to being so used to constant water.

 

[Geepee]

Plumbers found a spot in the inside wall that pipe branches to clothes washer, upstairs and to Kitchen. They cut hot water to kitchen only and meter stopped running. So I have hot water every where in the house except for Kitchen sink and dishwasher.
The plumber said, $2600 to put a 10ft line to kitchen under the slab, $2300 in only dry wall to kitchen, $2300 also if no lines to kitchen, but to install at service, under kitchen sink water heater. I need your take on these options as I felt they are bit expensive in IL.

 

[pcgeek11]

Plumbers found a spot in the inside wall that pipe branches to clothes washer, upstairs and to Kitchen. They cut hot water to kitchen only and meter stopped running. So I have hot water every where in the house except for Kitchen sink and dishwasher.
The plumber said, $2600 to put a 10ft line to kitchen under the slab, $2300 in only dry wall to kitchen, $2300 also if no lines to kitchen, but to install at service, under kitchen sink water heater. I need your take on these options as I felt they are bit expensive in IL.

Crap! I had my entire house re-piped including all new cut off valves etc for $2,450.00. This includes patching the walls.