Locating underground PVC water pipe

Neil Chowney · Post by **Neil Chowney** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:57 am

Right, I have an underground PVC pipe that runs approximately 300 feet through the property.

Its flipping leaking again.

The leak I can deal with as I know roughly where it is.

What I want to find out is where it T's off the main incoming main outside.

I know where the water valve is in the road.

I know the run on the pipe up the side of the house to within about 100 feet of the valve.

However this is not is anything like a straight line from the water valve.

I need to find the T so I can cap it off and run a new pipe.

Trenching down the whole pipe run is not an option.

Does anyone have any ideas how to follow the run of the pipe?

I put Arnold my pet hamster down the end of the pipe with explicit instructions to squeak when he got to he T..... so far it's been six days and nothing.....

I shall be having a word with him when he finally comes out again....

So, any ideas?

Gunsnlada · Post by **Gunsnlada** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:46 am

how deep is the pipe??? if not too far down you could take a long , thin and pointy piece if metal and poke it to figure where the pipe goes...at some point you'll find the union. maybe a long enough nail would do it

Neil Chowney · Post by **Neil Chowney** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:44 pm

About four feet down.......

... and its under concrete.......at least for the first 50 feet.

When the concrete ends the orchard begins....... and its mile off the run of the pipe in a line to the valve in hthe road.

GadgetBoy · Post by **GadgetBoy** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:41 pm

Ground penetrating radar?

Old Scrotum from down the road who does a bit of divining?

Fill the pipe with Weedol and see which plants die first?

jick · Post by **jick** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:54 pm

sounds like u need to excavate a trench from the property to the t junction to replace the pipe to me,normally 3feet cover

excossack · Post by **excossack** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 3:47 pm

A long shot but would the water board have any plans/maps showing the run or, maybe the local council?

excossack · Post by **excossack** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 4:18 pm

Another thought - do you have any sign's of the ground dipping where a trench has been dug?

Gunsnlada · Post by **Gunsnlada** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:31 pm

fill it with magnets and trow pennies all around??? the ground radar sounds your best shot

ahma · Post by **ahma** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:34 am

Key chain cam, LED-torch, mounted in the end of a 100 meter "plumbers tool for cleaning pipes". What diameter are we talking about?

ahma · Post by **ahma** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:43 am

Key chain cam, LED-torch, mounted in the end of a 100 meter "plumbers tool for cleaning pipes". What diameter are we talking about?

smugsie · Post by **smugsie** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:05 am

I feel very sorry for you. This pipe you have which is plastic will be impossible to detect in situe. If you can expose one end and feed a steel tracer wire up through it then there is a possibilty that a normal pipe radar tracer will follow its path.
However it might be easier and cheaper to get intouch with your water provider and get them to install a new water main. They can do it without needing to trench because they use a pnuematic mole hammer. Should be a job that takes 1 or 2 days.

Hope this helps: Smugsie

Eddy · Post by **Eddy** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:56 am

try divining ....

best is two lengths of fencing wire, older is better.

18" long, right angle bend at 5"

*Hold one gently in each hand, elbows tucked into your side, with the long sections as close as poss to the horizontal.
*Wander around
*When the wires cross over, there is water below your heals.

*disclaimer*:lol:
... works for me, works for my father, worked for my grandfather. my son just laughs, but I'm sure it'd work for him also.
Does not work for my wife or any members of her family.

Gunsnlada · Post by **Gunsnlada** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:48 pm

find the rods that are used to hold concrete..usually 12 feet long...weld a few together to get a long probe...youll get both direction and an aprox distance where your union is....then dig same direction and same distance. Et Voila!!
get someone to help you as it might end up being heavy... the rods are usually easy to find in metal yards.

Zelandeth · Post by **Zelandeth** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:11 pm

Divining isn't as silly as it sounds. I've successfully managed to track down a couple of things like this in the past. No idea how it works - but it does seem to more often than not.

Rods I used to use were just made out of a couple of mutilated wire coat hangers.

The real icing on the cake was when the water company claimed the pipe in question (we were looking for the water supply to an old, old house which we had no idea of the location of the very remote stop valve to) was miles away, and I turned out to have located it to within a couple of feet. I also managed to locate the stop valve.

I can't offer any explanation as to the science behind it - does seem to work though!

Plus side is that it doesn't cost anything, so nothing to lose by giving it a try really.

integraR · Post by **integraR** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:55 pm

there are companys that have specialist listening equipment to locate leaks and they might be able to sniff out a junction as there will be turbulance in the flow there, but it aint cheap! think they can put a sonic pulse through the pipe to locate it aswell but it might be my brain making things up

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Locating underground PVC water pipe

Locating underground PVC water pipe

pvc pipe