Leak Detection in River Run

River Run went up in 2002 and 2003, among the first neighborhoods after the 1999 vote. Its homes have had two decades of clay movement working on their foundations and buried lines. Leak detection in River Run therefore separates pipe from ground early: a damp basement wall with both meters still points at groundwater, while a moving house meter with the irrigation shut off points at the house line. Twenty-odd falls of sprinkler blowouts leave their mark too: a backflow device or a lateral drained imperfectly one winter can crack and show up as a moving irrigation meter in May. A wet strip along River Run Park on Oswego Street is public ground and the city's to look at.

Water where it should not be has three usual sources here: a supply pipe under pressure, a drain line, or groundwater pushed through a foundation by wet clay. They look alike on a carpet. A meter reading, a closed shutoff and the timing of the water tell them apart before any equipment leaves the truck.

• Groundwater and pipe separated before equipment
• Both meters still or moving, noted first
• Basement walls read against recent rainfall
• Park-edge water left to the city to check

Twenty springs of clay. Pipe or ground?

• Will you read both meters?

  North of 96th Avenue most homes have a house meter and an irrigation meter on one combined bill. Reading only one can mean an hour indoors chasing a sprinkler leak.

• Do you rule out groundwater before blaming a pipe?

  On Front Range clay a wet basement wall is often weather. Still meters and water that follows storms mean the wrong trade, and you should hear that first.

• Will the repair be priced apart from the search?

  It should be. Finding the leak carries its own estimated range, and fixing it is a separate written quote any licensed plumber can bid against.

• Will you tell me if there is nothing to find?

  Sometimes the meters are still, the bill was misread and the wall is condensation. Hearing that on the phone beats a visit that confirms it.