Water Leak!

[Gercarson]

I hope someone has the "right" thing to tell me - I've lived here for 5 years and actually know nothing about the water system in the house. Here in Northwest Florida most homes are built on a slab - like mine is. Is the water line embedded in the slab or is it under the slab? My water bill has tripled in the last month and checking the "leak" indicator on the water meter I see that I have a leak - somewhere. There is NO indication of a leak anywhere inside the house - checked, double checked, triple checked all appliances, faucets, connections, etc. Outside, all faucets and looked for that tell-tale dark green patch of lawn to point the way. Nothing! Leak still going strong. Any - repeat - Any advice?
Thanks

[moopups]

What is the age of the house? Earlier methods include burying the line under the slab, later methods installed the line within a shield within the slab. No wet spots on the floor? Then you are going to need somekind of sound use device to locate the leak. Often in this case where fixing the leak means tearing up the floor, an option is to run new lines through the attic space and down through the walls. First, shut off all toilet supply valves and check the meter again for the leak indicator, if it stops the leak is seepage from the toilet tank seal. Pray that this is it.

[Hoop]

It doesn't matter much if your water pipes are UNDER the slab or IN the slab. It is going to cost you some serious $$$ to replace it. You're better off abandoning the pipes under/in the slab. If its leaking in one place, its quite likely ALL the pipes are equally as bad.

The plumbing issue is one of the shortcomings of a slab.



The cheap way to fix it is to start from scratch and reroute the water lines above the slab and maybe box them in. The bad thing about it is some rooms may not be condusive to running water pipes along the wall/floor. Without a doubt, it will be unsightly.

[agmantoo]

Put some food coloring/dye in the tank behind each toilet and observe if there is color coming into the bowl. With a color change the flapper is leaking slowly into the bowl and the water is slowly running out thru the trap built into the bowl. I think you will find that is the problem.

[Jena]

I think abandoning your entire system for one leak in the slab is a little extreme! Call a plumber and get it fixed. Check with your insurance as they will likely cover it.

Jena

[Beeman]

As I understand you are on city water with a meter. How far from the house is the meter? Is there a shutoff after the meter where the water enters the house? If there is a shutoff at the house, shut it off and watch your meter. If it still shows water running your leak is underground. All you will have to do is figure out where the leak is and repair it. You can dig a hole 1/2 the way between your house and the meter and cut and cap the line there. Turn the water back on after capping and recheck. If you can narrow it down that way it will save digging the whole line out. My line is about 300 ft. long and that is how we found the leak in it. Took about 2 holes to isolate it, I didn't have any visible signs of leakage either.
Unless the leak is actually under your house or in the slab I don't see the need for anything drastic. Even if it was you would only have to replace the section leaking or bypass that section.
Now all of this ASSumes you have proper plumbing to begin with. If the line from the meter to the house is not 3/4"PVC or similar you might need a complete replacement.

[Gercarson]

Took ALL the advice - finally found the leak and it was repaired by MYSELF!!! My very sandy soil was a huge deterrent but the leak was between the house and the meter - had been initially repaired by some previous owner but very poorly - fixed permanently now. Thanks to all.