Water Line Location Service

Could be. A pinhole in the buried service line shows up as a soft patch that stays wet, or one strip of grass thriving through an August dry spell. Water follows the path of least resistance, so the wet spot is usually nowhere near the break, which is why we trace end to end before we dig.

Then we find where on the buried line it’s leaking. No reason to open the whole run between the meter and your foundation, so we trace the route and narrow it to a work area. If you closed the main valve and the meter kept moving, tell us, that puts the leak outside.

Depends what it’s made of. On copper or galvanized we clip a radio detection transmitter to the metal at the meter and walk the yard with a receiver, mapping route and depth. PEX, poly and PVC carry no signal, so we energize the tracer wire if there is one and work from the two known ends if there isn’t. Older Tulsa homes are still on galvanized, which for once makes them the easy ones.

Locating first is how we keep it from all coming up. We trace the route, then run acoustic listening equipment along it and follow the sound of water escaping the pipe, which narrows it to a small area. That gear is ours and our own guys run it. But a line patched three times, or galvanized rusting from the inside out, will fail somewhere else, and we’ll price a new service line instead of a fourth repair.

No. 811 is Oklahoma One Call, it’s free, state law requires it two working days before you dig, and you should do it every time. But they mark utility-owned lines and stop at the meter. Everything past it is yours, the water line, sprinklers, gas out to the shop, the sewer. Those get located separately.

Get clear of it first, then call. Gas, leave the area and call Oklahoma Natural Gas at 800-458-4251 once you’re out, that’s ONG’s own instruction and it holds whether you smell anything or not. Don’t crimp or cap it yourself. Water, shut it off at the meter if you can safely reach the valve, then call us at (918) 800-4426.

You do, from the outlet side of the meter to the house. The city owns the main in the street and the meter itself. Everything past it is yours to maintain and replace, which is news to a lot of homeowners the first time a service line fails.

Yes, and it’s the cheap part of the project. Irrigation crews tie in near the meter and trench across the front yard, which is exactly where your service line already runs. Pouring a patio over it costs you later, because the repair has to come up through concrete instead of grass.

All of your drains lead to one main pipe, your building sewer. Depending on the material, we can either use a radio detection tool to track the pipe itself or feed a locating sonde through the pipe to trace its path (often included with a drain camera inspection).

Difficult at best for DIYers, but we can run a line down the drain with a transmitter on the end and receive signals that map its path. A lot of Tulsa homes sit on slab, so it’s worth having that mapped before anybody breaks concrete.

Most empty into the street, driveway, or sidewalk, but they can also connect with storm drains. Although they shouldn’t, we have seen them tied into sanitary sewer, which causes problems for you and the city. If you don’t know where yours comes out, we can trace it.

As a homeowner, you are responsible for the drain line from your home to the public sewer. Sometimes a section runs under a neighbor’s yard or a street. That makes repairs harder, but we have navigated many situations like this and always found a sensible resolution.

Yes, on every locate, not something you have to ask for. We paint and flag the route in standard utility colors, blue for water and green for sewer. Paint doesn’t survive a rain and a mow, so we also write the depth down, measure off the meter box, and send you photos.

Depends on the length, the material, and access to both ends, so we’ll price it before we start work and there aren’t surprises on the bill. If the locate turns into a repair, our labor carries a one year warranty. Meet us at the start to point out the meter and where you’re digging.