? for plumbers

 

  I have a leak in the supply between the water box and the house connection.
  Question is:  Is it normal to have in house (Cabin, built in 1960) the water supply line of 3/4" galvi from regulator in water box (Contains the regulator ,shut off and yard supply shut off valves) to 1/2" (Thick wall) copper just off the regulator to the house, then back to 3/4" galvi at the house connection?
  I don't think its normal, to have a necked down section in the supply line like we do.  After I find and repair the leak, I'm going to have the 1/2" line removed and plumbed with 3/4" something (Copper/ galvi?) don't know yet, will rely on plumbers recommendation at that time)
  Still have a lot of digging to uncover the leaking spot.

 

That seems odd to me, too. I bet that thing leaked at some point in the past and the "repairman" or previous owner happened to have some 1/2" copper on hand.

Galvanized pipe will inevitably corrode out. You want either copper or (well protected) PEX.

 
  Well after moving 2 yards of dirt covering the house supply, it looks like there is no leak in either the yard supply pipe or the house supply! Yea!   Looks like a lot of ground water or water coming from some other source.  We have a local plumber scheduled to come by this Saturday to get a quote to replace the yard supply pipe I patched 2 months ago, since its exposed now.  Maybe get some ideas or recommendations on what to do about the ground water?

If you can give a little more overview of what's going on, I might be able to help. I do groundwater remediation for a living, so I know a thing or two about how water moves around down there.

Is the house on a slope?

If so, is this issue happening on the uphill side, up against the foundation?

Where (roughly) are you located? (This will give me a rough idea of the depth to groundwater.)




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Alex,  Sent you a PM.

Thanks!

You cannot have galvanized pipe connected to copper pipe without an isolator of some sort in between. At minimum, you need to have a dielectric union between the galv pipe and the copper. Alternatively, you need a minimum of 4" of brass in between the galvanized pipe and the copper. If this is not done, it will corrode insanely faster than galvanized by itself or copper by itself, like twenty times faster. This corrosion doesn't just cause leaks on the outside and pipe breakage, but it also builds rust up inside the pipe until the point of blockage.

You cannot have galvanized pipe connected to copper pipe without an isolator of some sort in between. At minimum, you need to have a dielectric union between the galv pipe and the copper. Alternatively, you need a minimum of 4" of brass in between the galvanized pipe and the copper. If this is not done, it will corrode insanely faster than galvanized by itself or copper by itself, like twenty times faster. This corrosion doesn't just cause leaks on the outside and pipe breakage, but it also builds rust up inside the pipe until the point of blockage.

+1.  Never forget the dielectric union!  I've heard of some horror stories and law suits.   

Indeed. Good point.


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Thanks, I'm aware of needing di-electric union's for any different metal pipe connections.  As of now, I'm fairly confident that the water is ground water not leaking pipes. Near future project may have to be a "French drain"  to channel away the excess water from house.
  That means a shitload more digging[emoji35]



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  Update:
  The water I have is definitely ground water.  I could have saved myself a lot of muscle ache if I had just checked damn water meter first!   it's little spinning thingy inside the meter doesn't move when no water is being used! DOH>>>  Oh well learned this the 2 yards of dirt hard way !
  Anyway, the water table level in the exposed hole where the yard faucet line has receded.  The pipe has been under water about 3" worth and now the pipe is not under water.  Time to fill it all back in.
 

Make sure it is not leaking before your meter. My Moms house had a leak between the main and the  meter, it is an  older area with galvanized pipe. The Pipe had split the water company came in and fixed it. They seem to have had a bunch of leaks in the area as the pipe are all about 70 years old.