Got A Leak? Great info from Davis Plumbing & Mechanical

Got a Leak?

Have you ever found yourself in a situation at home that you can smell gas or can hear water running or have water surfacing in the yard!  Situations like these can happen to you, and if not yet then hopefully it will never happen.  But if it does, it will come in the most inconvenient of times.  This blog is to help prepare you so you know how to react and what to do.

First let's start with the gas.  There are two kinds of gases used in homes, you will have either propane (LP) or natural gas (NG), LP and NG have distinct smells. If the smell of gas is really strong in your home you need to vacate the home immediately and call your plumber and/or the gas company. 

Propane you will have a large tank (usually white) sitting somewhere around you home. Coming off this tank will be a pipe that should have a valve on it this is your main shut off.  But also remember if you have propane that if your propane level gets to low you will also smell propane so make sure and check your gauge under the lid on your tank to see the % or level your tank is showing; if your % level is about 0 – 10% this could be where the smell of propane is coming from.

                                      LP Tank                                    LP Valve under lid                                   % level

Natural gas you will have a meter that is either next to your house or along the road or property line; on the supply side of the meter there will be a valve.  These valves will have a hole that will line up when it is in the off position.

                                            NG meter                                                                NG valve

If you are not comfortable with turning off the gas valve or messing with things around gas do not hesitate to call your local plumber to shut off your gas valve.  We as plumbers would rather you are safe and unharmed.  Also if you smell the gas in or around a gas appliance like a stove or water heater you can also shut the valve off next to these appliances, so you will still have use of other gas appliances.  But remember if you smell gas don't hesitate to call your plumber to see if you should shut off the gas and when they can check where the gas leak is.  If you do shut off your gas do remember that you will need to have the pilots relit after the gas is turned on.

Well enough about gas let’s move on to water.  Water can be a little more difficult to find unless you can hear it running or until it surfaces or you notice a mildew smell.  If you have a crawl space you will most likely notice a mildew smell, if you have a manufactured home you will have either a mildew smell or water coming out from under the skirting and if you have a cement floor you may have a mildew smell or water surfacing.  Remember this will not always be the case; it could spring a leak and never show signs.  This is why you should pay attention to your monthly bill and see if the gallons used per month change, or if your bill starts going up and you have not been using any more than normal usage you may have a reason to be concerned. 

If you have concerns you can go out to your water meter can, take the lid off and you will see a counter on the top that has a little flip lid and on that little counter will be two reader needles, one is black and counts the gallons that pass and the red triangle one should only move when you open a faucet, so if everything is closed and the red triangle is moving then you may have a leak.  At this point if the red triangle is spinning really fast, you need to call the water utility company to shut off the valve in the meter can or if you have a shut off valve under the house or in the house(usually in a wall with a plastic cover or under a cabinet) you can shut it off. If you do have a main shut off valve in the house turn it off and then check to see if the red triangle has stopped spinning; if it does then you have a leak in the house but if it keeps spinning this means that the yard line has a leak.  You will want  to have a plumber replace your yard line, if it has surfaced they may be able to just repair the line, if it didn’t surface you will have two options; option one will be to hunt for the leak or option two will be to replace the yard line. 

                      Water Meter Can

                                                                      Water Meter                                                Water Meter Reader

With the knowledge of how to deal with a gas or water leak, you now can safely and properly know how to handle such situations.  But as always remember if the smell of gas is really strong in your home you need to vacate the home immediately, and that only a licensed plumber can fix a gas leak.  And if it’s a water leak and you choose to dig up your own water line please call 811(free of charge) before you dig.