Plumbing leak in driveway, please help!

[Glockspeed31]

Could it possibly be the neighbors sprinkler system leaking. Water, sometimes ,will travel quite a distance before it surfaces.

Nope, our driveway is at a slightly higher elevation than other neighbors. We can see the water bubbling up through the cracks.

 

[D_Max]

collect a sample of the water ,coming from the concrete, and have the city water dept test it for chlorine.

have it tested for Fluoride the chlorine could already be used up,, Alot of plumbing company's have a machine that splits the old water line and pulls a new one in its place , do not bust up your driveway, this will be much cheaper

 

[Glockspeed31]

Looks like I'll be trenching a new supply line and just leaving the old line there.

Thanks everyone for recommendations.

 

[backflow]

Nope, our driveway is at a slightly higher elevation than other neighbors. We can see the water bubbling up through the cracks.

To rule out leaching, And if you have city water, I would test for chlorine/ fluoride as I said previously. If positive , replace the line. If meter is on opposite side of driveway from water supply to the house, we usually bore under the driveway and install a new line. It's odd that it does it at certain times. Far fetched ,but maybe expansion from this Ga heat , makes the water come up at that location, in the time frame you stated. Leaks do strange things.

 

[Rbenzo]

Good luck. Had a leaking main at my last house. I cut the main as close as I could to the meter and temporarily ran a new pex line on top of ground and connected back as close to house as possible. Tied in pex to old line with shark bite fittings and had a buddy with a trencher dig the trench for me. Problem solved.
Hopefully you can route around driveway.

 

[Junior_357]

Then you have confirmed you have no leak in the mainline which in most cases would not run under your driveway . Usually from your water meter to your front spigot on your house BUT this is not always the rule

Mine runs under my driveway, perpendicular to my driveway. Both of my neighbors are routed the same way. Apparently some builders just do it that way...I have no idea why.

The new line was bored under the driveway...there is no need to bust up the driveway to fix the water leak...

 

[Horsehat]

Water being used in your house is not going to affect the leak in any great degree. You have a pressure reducing valve inside your house, this is before it, so the pressure is the same as the main (street) line. It does not leak earlier because others on your street (main water line) are using water, dropping the pressure in the line. It probably still leaks but not as much. I bet it also leaks more late at night when water usage in your neighborhood is low and pressure is thus higher. You can get a leak finder to come out and locate the leak with a listening device. It may not be exactly where you think, Especially if your lot slopes it could run a ways before it surfaces.

 

[Nate]

Dont bust any concrete!
Try and re route without going under concrete if possible and just abandon the old line.
A crawlspace makes things much easier. (call 811 before you dig) Just run a ditch straight from the back of the meter box to the crawl space, make a penetration, and then re route to the point the water currently comes into the house and tie in the new line back into the existing. Frost line in metro ATL is 12" and code is 6" below that so ditch should be at least 18"
My preference is to use copper on a roll. fewer connections fewer possible leaks, call me old school. A lot of guys swear by PEX but ever since the blue poly debacle I just cant use it. PVC sure is cheap and most use it now days but I still prefer copper.
That's how I'd do it anyway. Good luck

This^^^

Although I would cheap out and use sch 40 pvc and expect it to last 30-50 years. Copper could last 100 or more im sure

If you want to use the irrigation again you will need to have it tied back in to the new main. If you do, replace the shut-off valve for the irrigation system at the same time. Send me a PM with your cell number and I would be glad to talk you through my thought process and your options. Just too much to type here.

 

[Nate]

Not only would busting concrete be costly but the patch would never match colors

 

[napp]

Mine runs under my driveway, perpendicular to my driveway. Both of my neighbors are routed the same way. Apparently some builders just do it that way...I have no idea why.

The new line was bored under the driveway...there is no need to bust up the driveway to fix the water leak...

I had exactly the same situation as the OP. Went out one morning to go to work and water was bubbling up through an expansion joint in the concrete driveway. I bought the house new in 1983 from one of Atlanta's major builders. The blue poly main water line to the house lasted about 15 years. I had it replaced with copper. No concrete was disturbed...the new copper line was jet bored under the driveway. As I recall, the cost was about $600.