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Leaky main water valve narspam 03-21-2007
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Posted by on March 21, 2007, 12:23 pm


I've recently found that the main water valve before the meter is
leaking, perhaps 1gal/week. I can see where the water is dripping out
from the valve where the handle goes into the fitting.

Our line comes up through a basement/closet floor ->grounding wire ->
valve -> meter -> valve -> grounding wire -> house. It appears to be
flare fitted copper.

I've been feeling brave as I just rerouted plumbing for our new
kitchen, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I'm
wondering also if it was caused by something I did, perhaps tightening
down old gaskets too much.

Any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated!


Posted by Malcolm Hoar on March 21, 2007, 12:40 pm


narspam@gmail.com wrote:
>I've recently found that the main water valve before the meter is
>leaking, perhaps 1gal/week. I can see where the water is dripping out
>from the valve where the handle goes into the fitting.
>
>Our line comes up through a basement/closet floor ->grounding wire ->
>valve -> meter -> valve -> grounding wire -> house. It appears to be
>flare fitted copper.
>
>I've been feeling brave as I just rerouted plumbing for our new
>kitchen, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I'm
>wondering also if it was caused by something I did, perhaps tightening
>down old gaskets too much.

If the leak is on the "street" side of the meter, it's
probably up to the water utility to fix it. It is in
my jurisdiction.

Just call them up and they'll likely fix it pronto. I
wouldn't mess with it myself -- if you screw up the
meter or the connections to same, you could find yourself
with a significant liability.

FYI: this is what my local water company say:

The Alameda County Water District is responsible for pipes on the "street
side" of the water meter, including all service lines and water mains
extending throughout the community. ACWD is also responsible for the water
meter itself. If you notice a water leak in the street or in the vicinity of
your water meter, please call ACWD Operations to report it.

The property owner is generally responsible for all pipes and plumbing on the
"customer side" of the water meter. This includes the interior plumbing of the
home, the outside irrigation system, and the area where the property's water
system connects to the water meter.


--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| malch@malch.com Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted by Just Joshin on March 22, 2007, 11:25 am


On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:40:45 GMT, malch@malch.com (Malcolm Hoar)
wrote:

narspam@gmail.com wrote:
>>I've recently found that the main water valve before the meter is
>>leaking, perhaps 1gal/week. I can see where the water is dripping out
>>from the valve where the handle goes into the fitting.
>>
>>Our line comes up through a basement/closet floor ->grounding wire ->
>>valve -> meter -> valve -> grounding wire -> house. It appears to be
>>flare fitted copper.
>>
>>I've been feeling brave as I just rerouted plumbing for our new
>>kitchen, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I'm
>>wondering also if it was caused by something I did, perhaps tightening
>>down old gaskets too much.
>
>If the leak is on the "street" side of the meter, it's
>probably up to the water utility to fix it. It is in
>my jurisdiction.
>
>Just call them up and they'll likely fix it pronto. I
>wouldn't mess with it myself -- if you screw up the
>meter or the connections to same, you could find yourself
>with a significant liability.
>
>FYI: this is what my local water company say:
>
>The Alameda County Water District is responsible for pipes on the "street
>side" of the water meter, including all service lines and water mains
>extending throughout the community. ACWD is also responsible for the water
>meter itself. If you notice a water leak in the street or in the vicinity of
>your water meter, please call ACWD Operations to report it.
>
>The property owner is generally responsible for all pipes and plumbing on the
>"customer side" of the water meter. This includes the interior plumbing of the
>home, the outside irrigation system, and the area where the property's water
>system connects to the water meter.

imho:

Just want to correct this generialization. I believe my community
requires home owners to be responsible for everything down from the
curb valve.

tom @ www.FindMeShelter.com



Posted by Speedy Jim on March 21, 2007, 12:45 pm


narspam@gmail.com wrote:
> I've recently found that the main water valve before the meter is
> leaking, perhaps 1gal/week. I can see where the water is dripping out
> from the valve where the handle goes into the fitting.
>
> Our line comes up through a basement/closet floor ->grounding wire ->
> valve -> meter -> valve -> grounding wire -> house. It appears to be
> flare fitted copper.
>
> I've been feeling brave as I just rerouted plumbing for our new
> kitchen, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I'm
> wondering also if it was caused by something I did, perhaps tightening
> down old gaskets too much.
>
> Any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated!
>

It may be a Globe valve like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_valve
or a similar Gate valve.

Either has the packing nut where the stem enters
the valve body. If tightening the nut doesn't
stop the leak, the packing inside will need renewal.
It is *possible* to repack it just by closing the valve,
then draining system water from the outlet side.
Then unscrew the nut to wrap new packing around stem.

But things can and do go wrong. Is they do, there is
no Plan "B" since the water service can only then be
shut off at the curb and this curb stop may not
be accessible to you.

Will the utility assist on this leaking valve?
Nobody on here can tell you with any certainty.

Jim

Posted by Oren on March 21, 2007, 5:15 pm


wrote:

>> nars...@gmail.com wrote:
>> > I've recently found that the main water valve before the meter is
>> > leaking, perhaps 1gal/week. I can see where the water is dripping out
>> > from the valve where the handle goes into the fitting.
>>
>> > Our line comes up through a basement/closet floor ->grounding wire ->
>> > valve -> meter -> valve -> grounding wire -> house. It appears to be
>> > flare fitted copper.
>>
>> > I've been feeling brave as I just rerouted plumbing for our new
>> > kitchen, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I'm
>> > wondering also if it was caused by something I did, perhaps tightening
>> > down old gaskets too much.
>>
>> > Any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated!
>>
>> It may be a Globe valve like this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_valve
>> or a similar Gate valve.
>>
>> Either has the packing nut where the stem enters
>> the valve body. If tightening the nut doesn't
>> stop the leak, the packing inside will need renewal.
>> It is *possible* to repack it just by closing the valve,
>> then draining system water from the outlet side.
>> Then unscrew the nut to wrap new packing around stem.
>>
>> But things can and do go wrong. Is they do, there is
>> no Plan "B" since the water service can only then be
>> shut off at the curb and this curb stop may not
>> be accessible to you.
>>
>> Will the utility assist on this leaking valve?
>> Nobody on here can tell you with any certainty.
>>
>> Jim
>
>Hey guys -
>
>Just to chime in - In my area, the homeowner is responsible for the
>line up the the street side of the curb stop. Also, our meters are
>installed with a rubber washer on each side of the meter in the "meter
>couplings" and those are prone to failure, or could get squashed and
>ruined. From what the OP said I would agree with Jim, that you could
>cure it by adjusting the packing nut.
>
>JK

Just this past weekend I was setting out the trash and heard a hissing
at the meter box in the sidewalk. Opened it up a saw a leak, not
large. Being the weekend I called the emergency number for our utility
company. About three hours past and the repair woman replaced the
rubber washer on the street side of the meter. Funny part was I had
confused my meter with the house next door (close together), so the
leak was really the neighbor's.










--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

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