2 ms·

It is not possible to check all possible locations for a leak. And in many locations, a leak will not be detectable until pressure is restored. An inrush of wat

It is not possible to check all possible locations for a leak. And in many locations, a leak will not be detectable until pressure is restored. An inrush of water at the main cutoff is ambiguous if there are any depleted tanks to refill. This may be non-intuitive if you haven't lived through it.

sidewndr46 5y ago
None of what you are saying makes any sense. My water meter reads down to tenths of a gallon. That is a tiny amount of water. If I open the valve and it starts spinning like a clock, I've got a leak. Do you think I'd just walk away and think "Oh well, I guess it just takes 500 gallons to fill the toilet!". I'd have to be blindfolded to not notice this.
- quesera 5y ago
  Nope, if it starts spinning it means you have a tank to fill (toilets, water heater, etc), or a system to pressurize (hundreds of feet of pipe). In the minutes required to do this, you could be leaking gallons into a wall. Why do you think a burst pipe will flow at or above the rate of a single toilet fill? Sometimes it might, but some frozen pipe bursts create very small breaches in the pipe wall. A tiny, steady stream inside a wall will barely if at all register on the spinner, and might not be audible at the valve. But it could cause a lot of damage.
  - sidewndr46 5y ago
    Hundreds of feet of pipe? Where do you think I live, some estate where I have 100 acres to myself?
    - quesera 5y ago
      Obviously it varies. But having plumbed entire houses, I can tell you that it adds up. Supply line in the basement, a run to the water heater(s), then forking into two parallel lines (hot and cold) to supply kitchen(s) and bathroom(s), verticals to get to higher floors, sometimes horizontal runs if the bathrooms are not stacked, etc. Cold supply to the outdoor spigots. Even small single-story houses with perfectly located utilities will have several dozen feet of potable water lines. Add stories or less-convenient utility locations and you can be well into the hundreds.

sidewndr46 5y ago

None of what you are saying makes any sense. My water meter reads down to tenths of a gallon. That is a tiny amount of water. If I open the valve and it starts spinning like a clock, I've got a leak. Do you think I'd just walk away and think "Oh well, I guess it just takes 500 gallons to fill the toilet!". I'd have to be blindfolded to not notice this.

quesera 5y ago
Nope, if it starts spinning it means you have a tank to fill (toilets, water heater, etc), or a system to pressurize (hundreds of feet of pipe). In the minutes required to do this, you could be leaking gallons into a wall. Why do you think a burst pipe will flow at or above the rate of a single toilet fill? Sometimes it might, but some frozen pipe bursts create very small breaches in the pipe wall. A tiny, steady stream inside a wall will barely if at all register on the spinner, and might not be audible at the valve. But it could cause a lot of damage.
- sidewndr46 5y ago
  Hundreds of feet of pipe? Where do you think I live, some estate where I have 100 acres to myself?
  - quesera 5y ago
    Obviously it varies. But having plumbed entire houses, I can tell you that it adds up. Supply line in the basement, a run to the water heater(s), then forking into two parallel lines (hot and cold) to supply kitchen(s) and bathroom(s), verticals to get to higher floors, sometimes horizontal runs if the bathrooms are not stacked, etc. Cold supply to the outdoor spigots. Even small single-story houses with perfectly located utilities will have several dozen feet of potable water lines. Add stories or less-convenient utility locations and you can be well into the hundreds.