Sprinkler System Leak Detection in Plano
Leak locate and repair typically $200 to $600
Irrigation leaks waste thousands of gallons before anyone notices, and in Collin County they usually show up on the water bill before they show up in the yard. A few signs you have one:
- A water bill that jumped with no change in habits.
- A patch of lawn that is greener or soggier than everything around it.
- Water on the sidewalk or in the gutter when the system has not run.
- A zone with noticeably weaker pressure than the others.
- A depression or sinkhole forming near the meter, the backflow, or a valve box.
Mainline versus lateral leaks
The mainline runs from the backflow preventer to the valves and is under constant pressure, so a mainline leak runs 24 hours a day. Lateral lines run from each valve to the heads and only leak while that zone is running. Mainline leaks cost the most in water and are the most urgent. If you suspect one, shut the irrigation off at the backflow until we arrive.
How we find them
The tech pressure tests the mainline with the zones closed, then runs each zone and watches flow and pressure. Suspected sections get checked with an acoustic listening device and, where the wire runs with the pipe, a tracer. Once the leak is isolated to a few feet, a small section of turf is lifted, the pipe is repaired with the correct fittings for the pipe type, and the sod goes back. Most leak repairs in Plano are done in one visit.
Root intrusion and age
Mature live oaks and red oaks in west Plano and Richardson send roots into any leaking lateral joint, so a small drip under a tree becomes a flood within a season. Older systems with thin-wall pipe or glued fittings that were never primed fail in clusters. If we find the third leak in the same lateral, we will tell you whether it is time to replace that run rather than keep patching it.
Call (972) 585-6256 and we will get the water stopped first and the repair scheduled second.