Uh, oh? Water pooling in your yard? While your grass and trees probably love the extra moisture, you certainly won’t like the water bill when you get it - assuming the leak is your responsibility. Find out what it means if you have water pooling in the yard, how to determine if it’s your problem or the city’s problem, and what to do.
Water Pooling in the Yard Means…
… a water main break. Yep, unless your home is situated over a natural hot spring (that’s a joke here in Charlotte - that’s not the problem), that wet patch means you’ve got a water main break. It probably started out as a crack, but a pool in your lawn (or water running down the street) means you’ve got some serious water loss going on.
You may also notice some other issues, like low water pressure in the shower (because not all the water is getting through to your home) or discolored water or even sediment (because dirt and rocks are entering your water supply through the breakage). You may suddenly notice your shower heads are clogged, and that too can be from the sediment that has entered your water system.
Is a Water Main Break My Problem or the City’s Problem?
In Charlotte, the responsibility is determined by the location of the break. If the water main break happened between the water meter and the street, it is the city’s responsibility. If the break happened between the water meter and your home, it is your responsibility. While you can estimate where the break is (by the location of the pool of water), a plumber will need to use leak detection equipment to determine the exact location and the extent of the break.
What Should I Do?
First, you need to call a plumber and have them determine where the break is and if the problem is your responsibility or the city’s responsibility. The location of the leak may be very deep (like four feet underground) or under slab (sidewalk), making it difficult to find the leak without the use of advanced leak detection equipment.
If the problem is your responsibility, the plumbers will fix the broken pipe through either trench or trenchless technology. Trench technology requires digging up the broken section of pipe and replacing that segment of pipe; trenchless technology is less invasive, involving digging smaller holes and pulling or pushing piping material through (click here to learn details of how trenchless technology works). They should then restore your property to the best of their ability. New grass will need to grow, and if slab was cut, new slab will need to be poured, but aside from that, it should look back to normal.
If the problem is the city’s responsibility, you will need to call the city, report the problem and submit a help ticket. Someone from the city will come out to look at it within 24 hours, and they will have someone come out and mark the electrical lines. Depending on how severe your water main break is and how long the city’s work queue is at the moment, the city will return within days to weeks to fix the problem. Serious water main breaks get higher priority.
Need a Plumber to Make Sure You Don’t Have a Water Main Break in Charlotte?
Give us a call at 704.846.5371 and we’ll take a look to see what’s going on. We serve a 25-mile radius of Charlotte, and we have 30+ years experience diagnosing and fixing water main breaks, so we’ll quickly determine who is responsible and what should be done next. We look forward to working with you!
Article Summary
Quick question & answer: Why is water pooling in my yard?
If water pools in your yard, the best thing to do is call a plumber so they can determine where the break is and if it’s yours or the city’s responsibility. If the problem is yours, plumbers will fix the pipe through either trench or trenchless technology. If it’s the city’s responsibility, report the problem and submit a help ticket.
