Leak Detection in Arlington, VA

Clues that water is escaping somewhere

• Usage on the County water bill climbing while your household routine stays the same
• The meter's low-flow indicator spinning when nothing in the house is running
• Brown rings on a ceiling below a bathroom, or paint blistering on an interior wall
• A faint hiss or trickle inside the walls late at night
• Soft, sunken or unusually green ground along the path of the water line to the street
• A musty odor in a finished basement with no obvious source

What sets Arlington apart

Arlington County's Water, Sewer, Streets Bureau delivers Potomac River water treated by the Washington Aqueduct at the Dalecarlia plant. The County owns the pipe from the main to the meter, including the meter itself and its box. Everything from the meter to the fixtures inside belongs to the owner, so a leak in the yard line between the meter box and the foundation is a private repair.

The median home here was built in 1976, and the county mixes high-rise corridors like Rosslyn and Ballston with older single-family streets in places such as Cherrydale. Decades-old shutoff valves, supply stops and water heater connections are frequent leak points in those houses. The County reports hardness of about 8 grains per gallon, enough to build scale that slowly ruins toilet fill valves and faucet cartridges.

As for the service line itself, the County says it has found no lead service lines and never used lead on its portion. Owners can check their own pipe with a scratch and magnet test and report the result online.

What shapes the cost

• How hard the leak is to reach: open basement joists, finished drywall, or a buried yard line
• Which tools the job calls for, such as thermal imaging, acoustic listening or pressure testing isolated sections
• Whether the fix is one fitting or a stretch of pipe that has to be rerouted
• Patching and restoration afterward, which plumbers often leave to other trades

What to expect on the call

You will be routed to an independent plumber who works in Arlington. Have a recent bill nearby and know where the main shutoff is. Say whether the meter moves with everything off and where you have seen stains or heard water. If water is surfacing at the meter box or in the street, the County's 24-hour emergency hotline at 703-228-6555 handles main breaks and water in unusual places; for billing questions and leak investigation requests, the Customer Contact Center is 703-228-5000.