[benplumber]

Recently, our 1 sump pump has been putting out a lot of water from under our house. We live on the middle of a hillside so we have two sump pumps under the house. The other side of the yard (where the city water comes into the house) is bone dry. The other side of the house only has the spare bathroom on that side of the house? Could I have a leak in the water pipe for my sink or tub (worse yet my toilet)? If it is my toilet, I would have through I would have smelled something by now. The side of the yard that the water comes out from via a black plastic pipe does not have an odor to it either. I'm very nervous to get under the house and see my worst nightmare. Please advise if you have any ideas.

[creahands]

Shut off all angle valves. Check water meter to see if it is moving. This signify a leak. Also with valves off do u hear water.

Chuck

[speedball1]

Answer Chucks questions and I have a few of my own.
Do you live on a hill? Lotsa rain lately? Since you have two sump pumps I assume that there's a ground water problem. Did the volume of water the sump pump discharges suddenly increase? Let me know. Tom

[benplumber]

What is an angle valve? Is this the two knobs going into the hot water heater or is this something out at the meter?

Yes, we do live on a hill and there has been more rain this spring than in others (but not this much). Also, it has been 90 here everyday for about the last 2 weeks and we're still seeing water coming out. The amount coming has increased probably 2-3 times or more what I am used to seeing. As far as a ground water problem, I am not sure. I just assumed the reason they placed two in the crawl space was due to the incline we live on. The subdivision was created on a very rocky area (old stone quarry) so may be one of the rocks shifted under ground and hit a water pipe that is now feeding into my house. That sounds a bit odd since I have neighbors within yards of me (we live on a 1/4 acre lot).

[speedball1]

What is an angle valve? Is this the two knobs going into the hot water heater or is this something out at the meter?

All Chuck was asking was for you to shut down everything in the house.
Angle stops,(see image) are the faucet shut offs in your cabinet.
Let's see if you have a hidden leak. To check for a hidden leak go out to the water meter, look for the little hand below the read out. With all your fixtures shut off you should not see the little hand moving. The faster it moves the bigger the leak. On a pump system the gauge should not fall with every thing off and the pump up to pressure and not running.
Get back to us with the results. Good luck, Tom

[benplumber]

Okay, took some of the advice with minimal results. My water meter does not have a read out or anything. It's got a shut off valve and that is it.
Got under the house and had the wife fill the tubs, sink, washer, dishwasher and everything else I could think of. She drained them & no leaks which is a good thing.
The problem is there is still small puddles of standing water and what looks to be a ditch on the back of the house probably for water to run to both sump pumps. Also, I found out that both sump pumps are working and both empty out to the one drainage line (which makes me happy to know both are working). While under there it looks like on the pea gravel on the base floor to be getting a little mold growth on it (no plastic down). Is this a concern? I have all my vents open and it has been dryer the past few days & supposed to be most of this next week. I've also been looking into vent fans. I thought about buying 1 for pulling air in on one side of the house and another on the other side of the house pushing air out. Would this help at all & has anyone used them before?

[speedball1]

My water meter does not have a read out or anything. It's got a shut off valve and that is it.

Most water meters ,(see image)have a dial so the water company can tell how much water you use. Can you take a picture of yours? How are you charged? Flat rate or by usage? Tom