Leak Detection in Atlanta, GA

Confirm it before you call

1. Watch the meter. Shut off every faucet, appliance and the irrigation system. Write down the reading, or watch the small leak indicator dial if your meter has one, and check again after an hour or two with no water used. Movement means water is going somewhere.
2. Close the house shutoff. If the meter still moves with the main valve at the house closed, the leak is likely in the buried pipe between the meter and the house, or the valve is not sealing.
3. Check the toilets. Add a few drops of food coloring to each tank and wait without flushing. Color showing up in the bowl means water is slipping past the flapper.

Clues and what they usually mean

Tools plumbers use

Listening equipment picks up the hiss of water escaping through soil or concrete. Infrared cameras show heat trails from leaking hot water lines. Shutting off sections and pressure testing each one isolates the run that is losing water. Moisture meters map how far it has spread, and line tracers follow buried pipe so only one hole goes in the yard.

Who owns the leaking pipe

The City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management is responsible for the service line from the water main to the meter. From the meter to your house, the line belongs to you. A leak on the street side of the meter goes to ATL 311 at 404-546-0311. A leak between the meter and the house is a job for a plumber. DWM's service line page points owners to the Georgia EPD dashboard to check their line's status.

Older homes add their own leak risks. About 42.7% of Atlanta homes were built before 1980, and galvanized supply pipe in the older intown neighborhoods tends to corrode and leak at threaded joints.

What affects the cost

How many methods it takes, whether the leak is under concrete, inside finished walls or underground, and how easy the area is to reach all play a part. Locating and repairing are often priced as separate steps.