If your Reston water use is up and nothing explains it, the leak is often in a wall, under a basement floor or along the buried line to the meter. Start with a meter check, then have a plumber isolate and test sections of the system. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in Reston.
Reston at a glance
Reston is a planned community laid out from 1964 onward, with village centers such as Lake Anne, South Lakes and Hunters Woods and a lot of housing from the 1970s through the 1990s; the median home was built in 1983. Water comes from Fairfax Water, and the owner's plumbing runs from the meter or street valve to the main shutoff inside the house. Heavy tree cover is part of Reston's character, and thick roots and leaf litter near a buried supply line can hide the wet ground that would otherwise give a yard leak away.
What to do right now
- Turn off every faucet and water-using appliance, including the irrigation controller if you have one.
- Find the meter and watch the flow indicator for two or three minutes. Movement means a leak somewhere downstream.
- Close the main shutoff inside the house and look again. If the meter still moves, the leak is likely on the buried line between the meter and the house.
- If the meter stops, open the main again and put a few drops of food coloring in each toilet tank. Color in the bowl within 15 minutes means a flapper is leaking.
- Check under sinks, behind the washer and around the water heater for drips or staining.
- Write down what you found, along with the dates on your last few bills.
Symptoms and what they usually mean
| What you see | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| Meter moves with the main shut | Leak in the yard line from the meter to the house |
| Stain on a ceiling below a bathroom | Shower valve, drain or supply joint leaking above |
| Toilet refills on its own | Worn flapper or fill valve |
| Damp patch on the basement floor | Pipe below the slab, or outside water seeping in |
| Water heater runs more than usual | Hot-side leak somewhere in the house |
What drives the cost
Price depends on how long the search takes, which tools it calls for and where the leak turns out to be. A toilet or an exposed fitting is quick. A leak inside a finished wall, under tile or along a yard line beneath mature trees takes more time and sometimes digging. Fairfax Water's Potomac plant water averages about 7.5 grains per gallon of hardness, so the plumber may also point out scaled valves found along the way. Ask for repair options once the leak is located, since rerouting a line can sometimes cost less than opening a finished room.
Leak Detection questions in Reston
Can a running toilet really show up on the water bill?
Who is responsible for a leak between the meter and the house?
Could the lawn irrigation system be where the water is going?
Is a damp basement wall a plumbing leak or groundwater?
More plumbing services in Reston
Leak Detection nearby
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