Here is a test you can run in about five minutes, before you call anyone. Walk out to your water meter, then go back inside and shut off every fixture, every faucet, the ice maker, the irrigation, all of it. Now watch the meter. If the little low-flow dial keeps turning with the whole house off, water is escaping from the line somewhere between the meter and your house. That is a yard-line leak, and it is one of the few plumbing problems a homeowner can confirm without any tools at all.
What a spinning meter with everything off actually means
Your water meter measures every drop that passes into your property. When all the water is off inside and outside, nothing should be moving. Most meters have a small separate indicator built for exactly this check, a triangle, a star, or a tiny gear that spins on the smallest flow. If it is turning while the house sleeps, water is leaving the pressurized line, and since it is past the meter, it is on your side and your responsibility to fix.
The reason you rarely see this leak is that it is buried. The service line runs underground from the meter to the house, and a slow split can soak away into sandy soil for weeks without ever surfacing. That is why the water bill is usually the first alarm, not a puddle. A leak the size of a pinhole, running around the clock, adds up fast. According to the EPA WaterSense program, household leaks waste nearly 10,000 gallons of water a year, and the worst offenders can run more than 90 gallons a day. A buried service-line leak is exactly the kind that runs nonstop without anyone noticing until the bill lands.
There is one more reason to catch it early. Water finds the path of least resistance, and a leak under the driveway or near the foundation can wash out the soil that supports them. What starts as wasted water can turn into a settling slab or a cracked walkway if it runs long enough. The meter test costs you nothing and takes five minutes, so it is worth doing the moment a bill looks wrong.
Common signs of a main water line leak
The meter test is the clearest proof, but a leaking main water line usually drops a few other hints first. Watch for these:
- A water bill that jumps with no change in how much water you use. Slow, hidden leaks show up on the bill long before they show up in the yard.
- Low water pressure at the fixtures, because water is escaping the line before it reaches the house.
- Persistent wet spots, soft ground, or unusually green grass in a strip between the meter and the foundation.
- The sound of running water when nothing is on, or a faint hiss near where the line enters the house.
Any one of these is worth a look. Caught early, main water line leak detection is a targeted repair. Left alone, the same leak can undermine a driveway or foundation and turn into real property damage, which costs far more than the pipe.
Yard-line leak, slab leak, or irrigation? Telling them apart
Not every creeping meter is a broken service line. Before we dig, we rule out the other two common culprits:
- Irrigation bleed-through. A stuck sprinkler valve or a cracked line downstream of the system can leak even when the controller is off. We isolate the irrigation and re-check the meter.
- Slab leak. If the water is escaping under the house instead of in the yard, you may feel a warm floor spot or hear water running. That is a different repair.
- Yard line. With irrigation isolated and no interior signs, a still-creeping meter points to the buried service line itself.
Working through those in order keeps the repair targeted. It is the difference between locating a leak to within a few feet and trenching a whole front yard on a guess.
Around Bastrop, the soil under the house often decides which one you have, and we explain how clay and sand split slab leaks from yard-line breaks.
How a plumber pinpoints a buried service-line leak
Once the meter test confirms a leak on your side, we narrow it down instead of digging blind. First we pressure-test the line to confirm it is losing pressure and roughly how fast. Then we use a line locator to trace the pipe’s path and acoustic equipment to listen for the pressurized leak underground. Water is loud when it is forced out of a small opening, and the right microphone walks us right to it.
Depth matters here too. A residential service line in this area usually sits a foot or two down, deep enough that guessing wrong means moving a lot of dirt for nothing. The locator tells us where the pipe runs and roughly how deep, and the acoustic gear tells us where along that path the water is escaping. Put together, they turn a whole-yard problem into a single access point, which keeps the repair faster, cheaper, and a lot easier on your landscaping.
By the time we break ground, we are opening a small, targeted spot, not the whole run. If the line is old and has already failed once, we will talk honestly about repairing the single break versus replacing the run, because a brittle line that split in one place tends to split again. Either path starts with a real look and honest waterline repair and replacement options, not a number over the phone.
Why a yard-line leak near a Bastrop septic field is urgent
Out here, plenty of homes run on septic instead of city sewer, and that changes how fast you need to act. A septic system depends on a drainfield, an area of soil that absorbs and treats the water leaving the tank. That soil only works when it can dry out between cycles. A service-line leak dumping clean water into the same ground keeps the field saturated, and a saturated field cannot do its job. What starts as a plumbing leak can turn into a backed-up, failing septic system, which is a much bigger repair.
So when a leaking line is anywhere near a drainfield, we treat it as time-sensitive. If your meter is creeping and you are on septic, do not wait for the yard to get soggy. Shut the water off at the main between uses and get it looked at.
Repair or replace the service line?
The right fix depends on the pipe and the ground it sits in. A single clean break in an otherwise sound line is a straightforward repair. An older line, especially one that has shifted in loose or sandy fill and split before, is usually better replaced end to end. When we do replace a line on a sandy lot, we bed it properly so it is supported and does not sag and shear again in a couple of years. If replacement is on the table, our comparison of PEX and copper for Central Texas homes covers which pipe holds up better in shifting clay.
You will get a free written estimate after we have located the leak and seen the line, with both options laid out and no pressure to pick the bigger one. If your meter is turning with the house shut off, that quiet leak is only getting more expensive. The honest move is to have your waterline checked and repaired before it drives up another bill or reaches your septic field.
Yard-line and water meter leak questions
Common questions homeowners ask when the water meter keeps moving with everything off.
How can I tell if the leak is on my side of the meter?
Shut off every fixture and watch the meter low-flow indicator. If it keeps moving with the whole house off, the leak is on your side, between the meter and the house. If it stops, the leak is upstream and belongs to the utility.
Will a yard-line leak raise my water bill a lot?
It can. A pinhole running around the clock wastes thousands of gallons a month, and the EPA estimates household leaks average nearly 10,000 gallons a year. A sudden, unexplained bill jump is often the first sign.
Is a leaking water line covered by insurance in Texas?
Policies vary. Many cover resulting damage but not the pipe repair itself, and some exclude the buried service line entirely. Read your policy and document the leak. We provide written findings for a claim.
How deep is a residential water service line?
In this area it usually sits about a foot or two below grade. That is deep enough that locating the leak precisely before digging saves a lot of unnecessary excavation.