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How to monitor water leaks in home


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My elderly mother's home, on 1.2 acres, is 50 years old. Every so often, a pipe will fail and there's a water leak. The only way you know there is a leak in the yard is you see standing water. If it's in the house, you can hear it. She cannot hear it because her hearing is bad. As for seeing it in the yard, that's a problem too because you have to know what to look for. An elderly person is not nearly as apt to notice standing water as a problem.

 

Over the years, most of the iron pipes have been replaced around the house but there is still some left. I don't know how you could tell what has been replaced without digging up the entire piping from the meter all the way around her house. Which would be a pretty major job, for sure, since it's 1.2 acres.

 

So, what is the alternative for her? The meter is out at the highway, at the end of her driveway. I can't foresee her checking the meter regularly to see if it's spinning. (Which would indicate a leak if nothing is on inside the house.) She'd have to get down on her hands and knees to read it.

 

Geez, I can't think of a solution other than checking the meter. I don't know how it could be handled other than hiring a neighbor to check it, say, twice a week.

 

If there were some way to put the meter above ground, she could easily check it when she gets her newspaper each day. I think all of the meters are below ground.

 

This is especially important for her in that she is in a major, bigtime dispute with the town over a water overcharge. For 24 years. (It has nothing to do with the occasional leaks I speak of in this thread.)

 

Point is, I don't want her to have to deal with the mayor if she has a leak.

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Call the water company & see if you can talk them into installing a remote meter reading sensor on the meter. These are commonly used to be able to read, from the outside, meters that are inside locked houses.

 

But they might allow for being able to read an outside meter from inside, assuming you whoever you reach at the water company is reasonable & fairly intelligent... probably unlikely, but worth a try.

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http://www.jimdgrayassoc.com/index_files/wirelesswatermeter.htm

 

Something like this should work. The only problem is you would have to check with power and water company. I have heard that some cities are working on updating the meters. They may already have something like this available. There is also non contact ultrasonic flow meters that you could run in the house. Not sure of the cost though.

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