Water filling up meter box - City claims it's groundwater (insurance, house)

[beerandon]

Like the title says, I have water filling up the water meter box and then trickling over the curb into the street. A real mosquito breeding ground I have here.

I have had the city out twice. The first guy said the leak was on our side and that it was our irrigation system, so I had a very reputable sprinkler guy come out. He dug up parts of my yard over the span of a few days trying to find any leaks, testing a few different things, and he couldn't find anything. He claims it had to be on the city side.

I call the city again. The second guy does a chlorine test, twice, and no chlorine was detected in the water filling up the water meter. For S & giggles he had me test the tap and it quickly showed there was chlorine in the water. He says with 100% certainty it's groundwater.

My lot is a pretty steep hill and the front yard slopes down with the meter at the lowest point near the street. I guess it's possible all the rain water is seeping down into the box, but it seems weird that none of my neighbors have this problem and even the 100 degree days didn't dry it up. I also rarely use the irrigation system and only turn it on manually since we have gotten a lot of rain in the last year. A natural spring would be the only explanation.

I'm at a total loss on what to do next. I have only lived in this house for one year and we think this has manifested over the last 3 months or so. It would seem odd to me that there's an underground spring that just all the sudden becomes evident on a lot in an established neighborhood - this is not a new build. And right by the meter/valve to boot. What are the odds?

I was going to purchase another chlorine tester on my own, just to be sure, but what other options do I have for another opinion? An actual plumber? A drainage company? None advertise this sort of issue, so I'm not sure what tree to bark up. I'm worried about the freezing temps over the winter causing some serious damage to the pipes/valve area, so I need to rectify this before then, but at a loss as to my next step.

Anyone ever have a similar situation?

[worker11]

Hello beerandon,
I have the same situation as yours, meter box full of water, flowing on the street; city facility staff investigate, saying it appears to ground water. that's it. is your issue fixed
thanks

[Hemlock140]

As long as that water is draining into the street, not your yard, and you water bill is not affected, then I would just let it go. They have proven that it's groundwater and you said yourself that it's the low spot. Whether it's a spring or runoff from uphill water, from a neighbor's irrigation runoff would require further investigation. I wouldn't call a plumber, they would simply confirm what the city told you. You would need a Hydrologist and that will cost more than a plumber.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by beerandon

Like the title says, I have water filling up the water meter box and then trickling over the curb into the street. A real mosquito breeding ground I have here.

I have had the city out twice. The first guy said the leak was on our side and that it was our irrigation system, so I had a very reputable sprinkler guy come out. He dug up parts of my yard over the span of a few days trying to find any leaks, testing a few different things, and he couldn't find anything. He claims it had to be on the city side.

I call the city again. The second guy does a chlorine test, twice, and no chlorine was detected in the water filling up the water meter. For S & giggles he had me test the tap and it quickly showed there was chlorine in the water. He says with 100% certainty it's groundwater.

My lot is a pretty steep hill and the front yard slopes down with the meter at the lowest point near the street. I guess it's possible all the rain water is seeping down into the box, but it seems weird that none of my neighbors have this problem and even the 100 degree days didn't dry it up. I also rarely use the irrigation system and only turn it on manually since we have gotten a lot of rain in the last year. A natural spring would be the only explanation.

I'm at a total loss on what to do next. I have only lived in this house for one year and we think this has manifested over the last 3 months or so. It would seem odd to me that there's an underground spring that just all the sudden becomes evident on a lot in an established neighborhood - this is not a new build. And right by the meter/valve to boot. What are the odds?

I was going to purchase another chlorine tester on my own, just to be sure, but what other options do I have for another opinion? An actual plumber? A drainage company? None advertise this sort of issue, so I'm not sure what tree to bark up. I'm worried about the freezing temps over the winter causing some serious damage to the pipes/valve area, so I need to rectify this before then, but at a loss as to my next step.

Anyone ever have a similar situation?

We have two very wet properties - a lake house in TX and an intercostal side place near the Atlantic in FL. The place is FL has 7 sump pits.

1. A chlorine test, assuming done properly, is more or less final.

2. Let's assume it's groundwater. Is there enough slope towards a point somewhere downhill emptying onto your property such that you could run a small line to bleed off some or all of the water?

3. If 2. is out and you are cool with spending a few bucks you could install a solar cell + battery + peristaltic or even a little sump pump and pump the water where you will.

4. A cheap way to experiment would be to siphon water away and see how quickly if at all the offending water replenishes itself. Another way would be to toss in a 12 or 24V Tsunami/bilge pump.

5. A caveat to all of this. There may be much, much more water than you think.

[BMW R1100]

After we bought (unseen but inspected) this house in TX, I noted there was always water in the street in front of the house. No other water anywhere, but the gutter in front of the house was always wet, and it was coming out of two holes in the curbing. I started to wonder about that and went to the neighbors above me on the hill and asked them if they had water draining through a French drain or if their sprinkler were running too much. They all said no. I had my lawn service guy look into it, and he said it's not leaking from my home system, but he pointed out the fire hydrant in front of my house, the one that gives me a small discount on my insurance. That's the problem, he said, the fire fighting system was leaking. I shoved a couple of wine bottle corks into the holes in the curb and in a just two days could see water coming out of the ground above the curb. There are no sidewalks in this neighborhood. I called the water company, and they told me that the previous owner had asked for permission to bore those two holes in the curb to keep the water out of the yard. I asked them to fix the water leak, but they weren't very interested in that, so now I am wondering, should I pursue it, or just let it go? I pulled the corks out and the street is always full of fallen oak leaves and dirt, and it bugs me.

[Hemlock140]

BMW, that sounds like the situation at a house we had in California. It was a hilly neighborhood, and our lot sloped down at the back, so a walk-out basement. When I was looking into the drainage problem after a very wet week of heavy rain, I discovered that there was a drain tile along the side about a foot below grade apparently continuing down into the yard below us. I walked around the corner and down the hill onto that street, and sure enough, there was a drain coming out of the curb directly in line with our drain tile at the fence. I ran a hose with some dish soap for suds and every hour drove by there until finally 3 hours later some suds started dribbling out. At that point I knew it was almost totally clogged, but no way I was going to get mixed up in cleaning it out, so I installed French drains on my property.

[BMW R1100]

The city doesn't appear too worried about it and there are no plans to get in there and repair the fire hydrant line.