Hello All, I would appreciate some help and advice on a problem with a possible water leak that I noticed the day after I’d had a water softener installed. However, at this point I don’t think the leak is related to the water softener installation. Apologies for this lengthy post, I just want to include as much information as possible.
The day after the installation of the softener I noticed a damp patch underneath the softener overflow pipe at the bottom of the wall on the house. However, no water was coming out of the overflow.
The incoming water supply comes into my garage, and next to it is a waste pipe. The kitchen is directly next to the garage, and the waste pipe from the kitchen goes directly into the garage waste pipe. The water supply runs through the same wall into the kitchen, where it goes off to the rest of the bungalow. I’ve attached various pictures to this post which may be better than my explanation.
The water softener was installed in the garage. The plumber put an additional waste for softener into the garage waste pipe, ran the overflow out through the wall behind the waste pipe, and ran a new unsoftened water pipe into the kitchen.
During installation it happened to be raining, and I noticed that there was a small amount of water dripping through the garage ceiling close to the waste pipe. This confirmed a suspicion that I’d had for a few weeks that there was a leak in the roof, but I’d not been able to identify exactly where. I’ve got a roofer coming next week to investigate and remediate that problem.
Immediately after the installation there was a fair amount of water in the garage around the waste pipe where the plumber had washed away all of the dust and debris from the various holes he had drilled.
It’s now been 8 days since the installation, and the area immediately around the waste pipe is completely dry. However in the corner of the garage behind the waste pipe there does look to be several areas which are damp (apologies the attached picture isn't great - getting the camera to focus while holding a torch isn't easy)
To rule out a problem with the kitchen waste, for the past 36 hours we stopped using the kitchen sink and dishwasher, just in case there was somehow a split in the pipe as it went through the wall. I’ve taken the plinths off in the kitchen and the waste, softened and new unsoftened pipes are all completely dry, as is the area around them. I also stopped the waster softener from regenerating for the same period of time, so I know that it has not used that waste pipe. The other bathrooms and utility room in the house use different waste pipes.
The area of damp isn’t getting any larger, but it’s also not getting any smaller. Yesterday afternoon I dried the brickwork with my wife’s hairdryer, and within 2 hours the damp patch was mostly back.
BWT, the manufacturer of the softener came out a few days ago to check the installation, and their engineer was completely fine with how the softener had been installed.
I was worried that it could be a leak on the incoming supply pipe. However, that wasn’t interfered with too much during the installation. I’ve checked the water meter reading, and using our previous bills which were actual reads I’ve calculated the current reading is exactly in line with what our average usage is.
A few years ago the ‘communication’ pipe burst just before it went into the water meter at the top of our driveway, and within a few hours our driveway had been destroyed, so I don’t think it’s an incoming supply pipe problem, but I’m just not sure. At the time the water company decided to move the meter from inside the border of my property to the footpath. I asked them at the time if the supply pipe from the meter into the house needed to be replaced, and they categorically said “No, it’s blue poly, it’s completely fine”.
For the last 6 days the weather here has been dry and warm, and there’s been no further rain. If the roof had been leaking for months, directly above where there is a damp patch, would that possibly still be showing now?
This damp area could’ve been there for a while. The only reason I noticed it was because it was the location of where the new overflow pipe for the softener was located. Other than that it’s a fairly nondescript section of wall that I would never pay much attention to.
Is it possible there’s an issue with the incoming water supply?
I was wondering if there was a possible split in the main waste pipe as it enters the ground? But as no water has used that waste for 36 hours I don’t understand how the damp patch could be coming back .
I really have no clue, and I don’t know what else I can do to try and isolate where the water is coming from. So I would really appreciate some help and advice on where to go with this. I realise I will, in all likelihood need to call in a plumber, but I would like to try and understand what the source of the water leak is ahead of calling someone in.
Many Thanks…
The day after the installation of the softener I noticed a damp patch underneath the softener overflow pipe at the bottom of the wall on the house. However, no water was coming out of the overflow.
The incoming water supply comes into my garage, and next to it is a waste pipe. The kitchen is directly next to the garage, and the waste pipe from the kitchen goes directly into the garage waste pipe. The water supply runs through the same wall into the kitchen, where it goes off to the rest of the bungalow. I’ve attached various pictures to this post which may be better than my explanation.
The water softener was installed in the garage. The plumber put an additional waste for softener into the garage waste pipe, ran the overflow out through the wall behind the waste pipe, and ran a new unsoftened water pipe into the kitchen.
During installation it happened to be raining, and I noticed that there was a small amount of water dripping through the garage ceiling close to the waste pipe. This confirmed a suspicion that I’d had for a few weeks that there was a leak in the roof, but I’d not been able to identify exactly where. I’ve got a roofer coming next week to investigate and remediate that problem.
Immediately after the installation there was a fair amount of water in the garage around the waste pipe where the plumber had washed away all of the dust and debris from the various holes he had drilled.
It’s now been 8 days since the installation, and the area immediately around the waste pipe is completely dry. However in the corner of the garage behind the waste pipe there does look to be several areas which are damp (apologies the attached picture isn't great - getting the camera to focus while holding a torch isn't easy)
To rule out a problem with the kitchen waste, for the past 36 hours we stopped using the kitchen sink and dishwasher, just in case there was somehow a split in the pipe as it went through the wall. I’ve taken the plinths off in the kitchen and the waste, softened and new unsoftened pipes are all completely dry, as is the area around them. I also stopped the waster softener from regenerating for the same period of time, so I know that it has not used that waste pipe. The other bathrooms and utility room in the house use different waste pipes.
The area of damp isn’t getting any larger, but it’s also not getting any smaller. Yesterday afternoon I dried the brickwork with my wife’s hairdryer, and within 2 hours the damp patch was mostly back.
BWT, the manufacturer of the softener came out a few days ago to check the installation, and their engineer was completely fine with how the softener had been installed.
I was worried that it could be a leak on the incoming supply pipe. However, that wasn’t interfered with too much during the installation. I’ve checked the water meter reading, and using our previous bills which were actual reads I’ve calculated the current reading is exactly in line with what our average usage is.
A few years ago the ‘communication’ pipe burst just before it went into the water meter at the top of our driveway, and within a few hours our driveway had been destroyed, so I don’t think it’s an incoming supply pipe problem, but I’m just not sure. At the time the water company decided to move the meter from inside the border of my property to the footpath. I asked them at the time if the supply pipe from the meter into the house needed to be replaced, and they categorically said “No, it’s blue poly, it’s completely fine”.
For the last 6 days the weather here has been dry and warm, and there’s been no further rain. If the roof had been leaking for months, directly above where there is a damp patch, would that possibly still be showing now?
This damp area could’ve been there for a while. The only reason I noticed it was because it was the location of where the new overflow pipe for the softener was located. Other than that it’s a fairly nondescript section of wall that I would never pay much attention to.
Is it possible there’s an issue with the incoming water supply?
I was wondering if there was a possible split in the main waste pipe as it enters the ground? But as no water has used that waste for 36 hours I don’t understand how the damp patch could be coming back .
I really have no clue, and I don’t know what else I can do to try and isolate where the water is coming from. So I would really appreciate some help and advice on where to go with this. I realise I will, in all likelihood need to call in a plumber, but I would like to try and understand what the source of the water leak is ahead of calling someone in.
Many Thanks…
