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24 Hour Emergency Response
Symptoms of a Broken Water Line
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Sometimes a broken water line or a leak in the water main can go unnoticed during the winter and early spring because the yard is wet or covered with snow. However, once it starts to dry out, watch out for obvious signs of a broken pipe:
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Look for areas of your yard that stay damp and mushy.
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Check your water bill if it’s consistently higher than normal.
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Shut off the water valve inside your home and check the water meter. If it moves at all, then your water main is broken.
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If you need water main maintenance or a new water main, Crush’s drainage and sewer experts can handle the job.
How To Fix a Broken Water Line
With a quick inspection, we will be able to determine the location of the break and the depth of the pipe at the break. Once we know what we are dealing with, we will determine the most efficient way to resolve the situation. We will either recommend a spot repair, pulling a new Line or excavating for a new line.
Spot Repair
Once we know the approximate area of the leak, we will excavate to expose the waterline. We will cut out the section of the water line that is compromised and replace it with a new plastic water line material using brass couplings. After the repair is complete, we bed the pipe in sand to make sure no rocks are around which will prevent another break in the near future. We would then carefully back fill the hole and tamp on the way up to make sure the ground is as hard as possible to minimize any shifts to the pipe.
Pulling a New Line
Once the resident is made aware of all the possible risks of pulling a new line and they confirm that it is something that they are wanting to try then we start the line pull procedure. We start by exposing the city shut off for the building to see the type of material the waterline is made of and also how we will connect to the city main. We will also open a hole in the mechanical room or where the water line enters the building to be able to get out bullet through the concrete slab. We will then cut the old waterline and feed our cable through to the outside. Once the cable is through, we attached the new pipe and slowly pull the old pipe out; replacing it with the new waterline. Using brass fittings, we make a new connection of the city main and we also connect the waterline inside the house. Secure all the piping and support all connections before testing the system.
Excavating a New Line
Once we are given confirmation by the resident that they approve the new excavation for the waterline, we start the excavating procedure. By excavating a new line, we can choose the new route of the waterline and try to make it as least intrusive as possible. We would excavate the trench and core a new hole through the foundation of the building. Disconnect the old water line and install a new waterline in our trench. We will determine what fittings are needed to connect inside the unit and at the city main. We only use brass fittings, we make a new connection of the city main and we also connect the waterline inside the house. Secure all the piping and support all connections before testing the system. After the repair is complete, we bed the pipe in sand to make sure no rocks are around which will prevent another break in the near future. We would then carefully back fill the hole and tamp on the way up to make sure the ground is as hard as possible to minimize any shifts to the pipe.