Leak Detection in Riverdale, MD

Signs of a hidden leak in Riverdale

• A bill that's crept up over several months
• A meter that won't stand still while the house is idle
• Stains, peeling paint or soft spots in walls and floors near plumbing
• A basement that smells damp even in dry weather
• Sounds of running water behind a wall
• A toilet that refills with nobody touching it

Riverdale's homes and water

Riverdale is a postal name that covers the incorporated Town of Riverdale Park plus nearby unincorporated areas such as Riverdale Heights. Riverdale Park is an older streetcar-suburb town along US 1, just south of College Park, and its median home dates to 1957. In houses of that age, original supply pipe, worn valves and decades of add-on repairs are common leak sources, and plaster walls and basements can hide a slow drip for a long time.

WSSC Water provides water and sewer service across the area and disinfects with chlorine. Its tap water testing shows average hardness of about 140 mg/L for water from its Potomac plant and about 64 mg/L from its Patuxent plant, depending on which plant feeds your address. Harder water leaves scale that wears valve seats and fill valves. WSSC says part of the service line is utility owned and part is customer owned, and asks customers planning to replace their portion to notify it first. Its What's Your Pipe Type? program helps identify the line's material. Water in the street goes to WSSC at 301-206-4002.

What affects cost

How long the search takes, how many branches need testing, and how hard the leak is to reach all affect cost. Older homes may need more care when opening plaster or working around fragile pipe. A repair to the service line, or a decision to replace a stretch of worn pipe rather than patch it, adds to the total.

What happens when you call

You're connected with an independent plumber who serves Riverdale. Describe the signs and what the meter shows. At the home, the plumber narrows down the leak with section tests and listening or thermal tools before making any opening, and plumbing work in WSSC territory is done under a WSSC permit by a plumber holding a WSSC license.