Leaky leaky crawl space

[Jtich85]

Okay new home owner and new to this thread. I want to say thank you in advance to anybody that takes the time to read this.

I recently found a wet spot under the house that appears to be coming from this pipe. The pipe is coming off the water pump and dead ends distal of a ball valve. Looks like it is a slow drip coming out of the pipe. I wanted to field some opinions before I go down there and start ripping things apart. I have not been able to determine why the ball valve was installed or when exactly it drips. The area around the pipe is very wet and I am concerned about it impacting the foundation.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you.

 

[havasu]

You'll have to remove more dirt to confirm where that leak is originating from. I do know those pvc elbows are prone to breaking, and is a quick fix. I had one snap under a bed of concrete and it cost me thousands to fix. Fortunately for you, it won't be bad at all.

 

[Jtich85]

You'll have to remove more dirt to confirm where that leak is originating from. I do know those pvc elbows are prone to breaking, and is a quick fix. I had one snap under a bed of concrete and it cost me thousands to fix. Fortunately for you, it won't be bad at all.

I suppose that is good news. I had not considered that it could be the elbow. When I feel the inside of that pipe coming to a dead end it is wet so I just assumed. You absolutely right though, I’ll have to figure that out. I guess the only thing that had me scratching my head is I just don’t know what this pipe is or why I need it. Considered capping it off instead of replacing the valve.

 

[Jtich85]

I suppose that is good news. I had not considered that it could be the elbow. When I feel the inside of that pipe coming to a dead end it is wet so I just assumed. You absolutely right though, I’ll have to figure that out. I guess the only thing that had me scratching my head is I just don’t know what this pipe is or why I need it. Considered capping it off instead of replacing the valve.

You'll have to remove more dirt to confirm where that leak is originating from. I do know those pvc elbows are prone to breaking, and is a quick fix. I had one snap under a bed of concrete and it cost me thousands to fix. Fortunately for you, it won't be bad at all.

Okay I took your tip and removed all the dirt. It is 100% coming from the ball valve (circled in red). The water is leaking out the end of the pipe. I have no idea why this pipe was originally ran but it doesn’t go anywhere now. So my options are replace it with a working valve or cut it and cap it. Which do you think is going to be less problematic?

 

[Twowaxhack]

I’d cut and cap it at its source if I could locate the source.

 

[Jtich85]

I’d cut and cap it at its source if I could locate the source.

 

[Jtich85]

My plan at the moment is to turn it off upstream (circled in yellow) and cut/cap at the green line.

 

[havasu]

Is that a wellhead?

 

[Jtich85]

Is that a wellhead?

You know what - I don’t know. This house was built in 1983. It has galvanized and PVC pipe running all over the place (even some copper - not touching galvanized). We have a water bill and the county collected samples once a year. There is a meter in the front yard. However, this pump does appear to run into half the house (PVC only) - I still havn’t identified the source for the rest of the house. Additionally, there is a breaker labeled “well”.

Two home inspections and neither could tell me with certainty what was happening. To make things much worse I have absolutely no idea how to turn off the water (not with certainty).

 

[havasu]

Before cutting and capping, I'd recommend you bring in a professional, preferably local plumber, who can go over your water system. They can also tell you how to shut off water in an emergency, which would be extremely valuable information.