# Finding leaks in old irrigation system



## kblaurel (11 mo ago)

I inherited my irrigation system when I purchased my home five years ago and since then I've completed several projects to repair major issues, and I've also converted several zones to drip irrigation. Over time I noticed that some areas in my yard were overly damp, but at the end of last season I discovered a major leak. In my yard I have some perforated, corrugated pipe for draining my gutters, and water started coming out of one of the pipes *all the time*. Shutting off the water to the irrigation system stops the water so I know that the leak is coming from the irrigation system.

I called a leak discovery company (many years in business, wonderful reviews) and they came out. They walked my entire yard for several hours and could not find the leak. ☹

What do I do now? I want to use my irrigation system but I don't want water pouring in my yard and also out of my drainage system constantly. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


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## Grizzly Adam (May 5, 2017)

Is it split into zones? Do you know what zone is leaking? Remove your sprinkler heads and unhook the drip lines, get everything capped so no water can come out. Now energize the zone, wait for wet spots to appear, and (carefully) dig. Patch the hole, test again to make sure you got them all.


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## thebmrust (Jun 29, 2020)

We bought a property two years ago and it took us 6 months to find our lines and broken heads in our 1 acre pasture. I gave up in our 1/2 acre lawn. Too many obstacles.

But basically, once the water was on, we waited for ground to get wet or a geyser. Turned it off, dig it up. Repair it. 
Repeat.

We still get breaks, but I have a decent idea where all the lines are two years later.

Once you find anything, draw it out so you can start to build a reference to the whole system.


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## kblaurel (11 mo ago)

Update: After hiring two leak detection companies and still not finding any leaks I asked my irrigation guy to check on the water pressure to the different zones. It turned out that the water pressure was really, really high and we formed a hypothesis that the high pressure was causing water to seep out from the valves. We installed a PRV (pressure regulating valve) and since then I've had no issues. Thank you to everyone who responded!


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