We discovered this by reading the meter, turning off the water at the main turnoff point, and leaving the house for the day. Upon return that night, we reread the meter and found we had "used" water although no one was home. Our monthly water bills are also higher than they should be. There are no obvious signs of water leaks. A plumber came and checked the toilets - no leaks and said that the volume of lost water is too low for him to detect. Any suggestions?

Six gallons? Somehow I think you are misreading the meter. Could it be sixty gallons. Try checking again, this time turn the water off at the street.

You have to isolate the problem before you can repair it.
With erverything off in the house does the little pointer on the meter "creep" a bit? If you have a small leak you should see it move.
Let me know about that and we'll move on to the next step. Regards, Tom

I had a leak once, I didn't realize it until I had a 400.00 dollar water bill. I swore up and down to the water dept that I didn't have a leak. There were no patches of green grass, dry as a bone underneath the house and absoltely nothing dripping. I happened to look in the sewer clean-out in the back yard and BINGO, there it was! For some reason my fresh water line crossed underneath the drainage ditch in my back yard (directly under the clean-out). A month or so before I had to have the Roto-Rooter man un-clogg our drain after a bad storm and his machine bore right down through the old clay tile and struck the fresh water main. The water leak was going straight into the drainage ditch so therefore there was no evidence of a leak. Unlikely that this would happen to anyone else but me but hey, you never know. Hope this may help someone.

Thanks,

Hey Flip,
Thanks for your input. Wasn't possible to check your water nmeter for a leak? The little hand or pointer should hgave gone crazy. Cheers, Tom

To check if you have a leak do as Tom says check the meter if the red triangle creeps see the image, if it does you have to isolate the problem open the link below and watch all the clips, good luck.

John

Water Shut-Off Valve for Home Water Conservation Tips: Home Water Conservation & Residential Tips | eHow.com (http://www.ehow.com/video_4418520_water-home-water-conservation-tips.html)

Yep, it was spinning like crazy:) I thought it must've been broke. Took me two days of crawling under neath the house (on my belly like a snake-pier and beam), inspecking every square inch of my yard and scrutinizing ever faucet before I saw fresh water gushing straight into the sewer. My temporay fix was to re-route the fresh main over the dainage ditch instead of under until I can re-plumb so that they do not cross at all (house was built in 1926, probably very few codes back then).

Thanks again,

I saw fresh water gushing straight into the sewer.
Please explain. Was this a crossconnection between potable water and your sewer? Was the water pipe above or below the sewer line? I'm glad you located your leak but now I'm concerned about contamination. Regards, Tom

It used to be below it until the roto rooter man ran his snake down the clean-out trap in the back yard. Instead of his his turning and going down the drainage ditch he bore straight down through the old clay tile and hit the main that was directly underneath it. Since then I re-routed the water line, it now goes above the sewer drain, still temporary until I can move it away from the drainage ditch all together.

Thanks again for the reply.

Did the liquid from the sewer ever comingle or get with your potable water? I'm concerned about contamination in your water supply. Back to you, Tom

Yes it did, the water leak was directly underneath the main drain in my back yard. The water pressure from the leak forced the water to shoot straight up and into the main drain between my house and the alley where it goes into the city's main sewer line.

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond but yes, with all the water off, the meter creeps a bit.

Thanks,