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It may seem like the Earth has enough water to sustain all its inhabitants, but in reality, only one percent of its water is available or safe for human use. However, the importance of water in daily living can never be disputed. The average American household uses approximately 300 gallons of this precious commodity daily, with 70 percent of this usage happening indoors.

Water plays a vital role in cooking, cleaning, and maintaining personal and environmental hygiene. However, it has to reach your Arlington, TX, residence first, a function that’s facilitated by a network of pipes that make up your home’s water line.

In most homes, water lines are connected to the larger municipal water supply infrastructure, allowing you to access the freshwater you use to complete your daily chores. They can be made of different materials depending on the age of your residential property.

Older houses may have copper lines, which are particularly reputable for a significantly lower need for frequent water line repairs. Copper water lines are more expensive than PEX pipes, which have accrued more popularity in recent years, as well as galvanized pipes that are often susceptible to developing problems after a short period of service.

Regardless of the material used, it’s quite difficult to completely avoid the need for a water line service in the long run, even if your home’s fitted with copper lines that could potentially serve you for over 50 years.

Besides standard wear and tear, your home’s water line can get damaged by corrosive soils, unforeseen changes in hydraulic dynamics, unprecedented ground shifts, rodents and pests, and tree root infiltration. Other factors that can contribute to the need for a professional water line repair service include mineral and residue buildup over time and lousy installation work.

However, even with knowledge of the potential threats your residence’s water line may face, fixing any issues that arise within it is no easy feat. This is mainly because of the line’s location. For instance, Arlington, TX, homeowners that live in a single-story home can expect to find the water line in the walls and floors. In two-story homes, the water lines often run through walls on each floor of the residence. Both locations can pose quite a challenge in identifying and fixing water line issues, which is why a water line service expert should be contacted.

To know the best time to contact your water line service provider, watch out for any of the following signs of a problematic water line.

Wet Spots in the Yard

When it rains in Arlington, TX, the sight of small puddles or soggy ground patches on your lawn is almost inevitable. If there has been no rainfall lately and there are puddles and wet patches in the yard, it may be time to request a professional water line repair service. Such scenarios are often associated with major or minor leaks within the plumbing infrastructure, leaks that can waste more than 90 gallons of water daily if left unresolved. The water released from these leaks eventually gets pulled to the surface by the sun, forming the puddles you’re witnessing on your lawn.

In some scenarios, depending on the location of the leaks, the water may start flowing into the street. During such instances, you should prioritize contacting your water line repair professional since you could be cited by local authorities for creating a community health hazard. If you fail to contact the water line repair expert on time after noticing wet spots in the yard, the ground underneath such sections may weaken, leading to the formation of sinkholes. While sinkholes can be quite a sight to behold, when they occur in your home, the risk of your kids and pets sustaining accidental injuries may significantly increase.

Discolored Water

Ideally, the water in your Arlington, TX, home should be crisp and transparent, but if it appears to be discolored or cloudy, it’s a sign that you may need to contact a water line repair professional. If you notice a brownish color that persists for no more than a few seconds after turning on a faucet, the problem may not necessarily lie within the waterline. Despite that, ignoring the problem may only give rise to more serious ones that could cost you thousands in plumbing repair or replacement costs in the future.

In that regard, water line repair experts insist that the water in your residence should never have any color. If it’s discolored, it may be due to the infiltration of rust and dirt through a faulty section of your home’s water line. The rust and dirt can originate from various sources, but the most common one is a corroded pipe or water heater.

Under such circumstances, if the discoloration affects only one sink or faucet within the house, the problem may not be too serious since only fixtures and pipes in the affected rooms may be corroded. Your water line repair service provider can help diagnose the problem and replace the affected piping or plumbing appliance.

On the other hand, if the discoloration is only evident when hot water is being used, then you may need immediate assistance from a water line service expert near you. This is because the hot water in your home is extensively used to satisfy most of your household cleaning needs.

Therefore, washing your clothes or dishes with discolored water may end up staining them, destroying their value over time. Past that, the hot water may start becoming discolored if your home’s water heater begins to rust from the inside. At this point, your water line repair specialist may recommend a water heater replacement service as the only long-term solution since the tank may eventually burst if the issue is left to simmer for long.

With that in mind, you should also consider scheduling a water line repair service if you notice discolored water in both the hot and cold water outlets. In such scenarios, the main water supply may be involved. The water may be getting discolored due to cracking or rusting in the waterline, providing adequate space for dirt and debris to infiltrate your home’s water distribution network.

Fortunately, you can schedule a water line repair or replacement service to have the issue resolved, but the solutions you may receive may depend on the extent of the issue. Therefore, if you take longer to pursue resolutions, the chances of having the water line replaced may increase exponentially, forcing you to dig deeper into your pockets.

An Unexpected Rise In Your Water Utility Bills

By fixing household plumbing leaks, Americans can save up to 10 percent of their monthly water utility bill. In some regions, local administrative authorities may use a three-month consumption average to determine how much you may need to pay. Other municipalities may read the water meter monthly. Regardless, most homes have relatively consistent water bills. However, endeavors such as filling a pool, running lawn sprinklers, or installing a dishwasher or washing machine may increase the amount of pay by a negligible margin.

Therefore, if you notice that the water bills in your home have significantly risen without any logical explanation, the problem may be more serious than a running toilet or leaky faucet you may have forgotten to fix. An unexpected spike in your water utility bill may happen if there’s an underlying leak within the main water line. This increase usually depends on the size of the leak and the difference becomes greater when there’s a larger leak within your household.

Since most water lines are installed underground or beneath the walls and floors of your residence, detecting major or minor leaks can be an uphill task if you don’t have the right tools. That’s why you shouldn’t hesitate to contact a professional water line repair technician. Besides inspecting your property’s water line using advanced camera technology, the artisan may also help you avert potential water damage near the floors and walls of the affected area.

Cracks on Your Home’s Foundation and Water Damage on the Walls

Your home’s foundation may begin to crack due to wide-ranging reasons, including shifting soils, aging, and erosion over time. However, unresolved water line issues can also make the foundation crumble, which is why they should be addressed with urgency, with the help of a well-trained water line repair specialist. The foundation is responsible for supporting your home, and if it weakens, the structural integrity of your residence may also diminish.

Leaks or cracks in the waterline may allow water to find its way into the soil surrounding your house. This may create constantly moist soil conditions, and since the foundation’s concrete can absorb water, it will persistently do so, causing it to weaken and crack as time passes. However, this absorption may take a long time, which means that you can avoid potential water damage in your home if you request a water line repair service after noticing even the smallest cracks on your home’s foundation.

Additionally, you should watch out for water stains that may develop on the walls of your home’s basement or first floor. If indeed there’s a water line problem on your property, you should also pay attention to the paint and wallpaper applied against your walls. If they’re beginning to peel or bubble, it may be as a result of gradual and consistent moisture infiltration. In that case, a water line service should be requested lest mold may start to grow.

Strange Noises from Plumbing Fixtures

Ideally, your home’s toilets and sinks should never produce any sound, especially a gurgling one. The only noise you should hear from these appliances is the sound of water as the toilet bowl empties or as it flows seamlessly down the drainage system.

Therefore, a gurgling noise may point towards a water line blockage that may be facilitating the development of air pockets. If the sound is only predominant in one fixture or appliance, the problem may be minor and a professional plumber can help find impactful solutions. However, if the gurgling noise can be heard in multiple areas of your residence, you may need to schedule a professional water line repair service.

Past that, noises coming from outside your residence should also be treated as a sign that it could be having unresolved water line problems. While troubleshooting water line issues may be difficult through the naked eye, audible signals can help identify them when they’ve become more apparent. These signals include hissing, banging, bubbling, or whistling. In that regard, it’s unnatural for anything in your yard to produce these types of noises, which is why you should immediately consult with a water line repair professional if you notice them. Beware though, these sounds are also synonymous with residential air conditioning problems.

Low Water Pressure

Due to the covert location of your home’s plumbing pipe network, diagnosing the causes of low water pressure can be quite difficult. Regardless, a decrease in water pressure is a sure sign of unresolved plumbing problems. It may happen as a result of a faulty pressure regulator valve, clogged pipes, or minor to major leaks within the plumbing infrastructure, issues that a trained plumber can help diagnose and resolve. When the water pressure drops without warning, cracks or fractures within the waterline may be to blame. Your water line repair service provider can provide long-lasting solutions depending on the extent of the problem.

When called upon, your technician can repair the water line pipe that’s leaking or replace it if the damage is extensive. Since blockages can also result in the reduction of water pressure in your residence, the technician may also use techniques such as hydro-jetting to dislodge any debris that could be obstructing the free flow of water. If tree roots have infiltrated the soil surrounding your household’s plumbing pipes, your water line repair expert can help eliminate the threat. They may also repair or replace any pipes damaged by the tree root invasion.

Contact a Reliable Plumbing Service Company near Arlington, TX

Although the above information can help you know when your home needs a water line repair service, only a professional plumber can provide timely and comprehensive solutions. If you notice any of these signs of water line trouble, don’t hesitate to contact the experts at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth.

Since 1998, we’ve been dedicated to serving the plumbing needs of clients around the Arlington, TX, area. Our technicians can help with leak detection and repair, water heater service, gas piping and fitting, drain cleaning and treatment, and plumbing appliance installation, repair, or replacement.