Water leaks

The Oregonian/OregonLive By The Oregonian/OregonLive The Oregonian
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on August 13, 2008 at 5:32 AM, updated July 28, 2011 at 4:11 PM

Water leaks waste money as well as water. Follow these steps outlined by the Portland Water Bureau to determine whether your home has a leak, and if so, whether it is indoors or outdoors:

1.Turn off all water inside and outside the house, including showers, sinks, washing machine and any appliance that uses water.

2. Take the lid off the meter box. Be careful, as lids can be heavy, and sometimes bugs and small animals hide inside meter boxes.

3. Watch the meter. If your meter has a triangular blue or red "leak indicator" and it is spinning, you have a leak. If there is no indicator and the actual meter dial hand is moving, water is running somewhere in your system and you have a leak -- go to step 4. If the hand is not moving, note the position of the hand and wait ten minutes. Check the meter again, if it has moved, you have a slow leak -- go to step 4. If not, you do not have a leak.

4. Locate and turn off the main shutoff valve in your house. It is usually located near the water heater in the basement or garage.

5. Turn on a faucet inside the house to test. If water still flows from the faucet after several seconds, the shutoff valve is not working. There is no way to tell if the leak is indoors or outdoors. However, if no water flows through the faucet, the shutoff valve is working, so proceed to step 6.

6. Return to the meter. Check whether the meter's leak indicator or dial hand is moving. If the leak indicator or dial hand is still moving, water is flowing between the meter and the shutoff valve. That means you have an underground leak. If it is not moving, then you have an indoor leak.

For more information on finding and fixing leaks, click here.

-- HGNW staff