Plumbing Problem

[hr3]

OK here goes. The house we bought in the Philippines seems to have a leak in the plumbing. There is a shallow well pump feeding an 80 gal. tank in the pump house it comes on every 10 to 15 min. , from there it goes underground to the house. The house is on a slab, and all piping is under the slab and comes up into hollow block walls.

Things I have done so far
Shut the water off at the tank to isolate the house from the pump. Result is pump holds pressure and doesn't come on so the foot valve should be good.

Last night I shut the water off to the house over night then when I turn it on in the morning I get lots of air out of the faucets.

Any ideas on how to find the leak ????

Thanks

 

[ultrarunner]

Looks like re-piping...

Is there a shutoff where the underground enters the home...

It could just be a leak in the line from the pump to the house if you are lucky.

I've worked on several homes with under slab plumbing and ran the new lines in the attic.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Why kind of pipe ? Might find that shut off at edge of house that ultra runner mentions or cut the line and install one or at least a cap on each. Pressure up each side (to well on one side and to house on other) at least then you know which half. Sometimes on the house part its easier to run around the out side of house then into the house to the sinks or what ever. All depends on layout of floor plan and plumbing.

 

[RNeumann]

To help me understand- water goes from well to pump house to underground line to house. Isolating the well and pump house reveals no leaks. But shutting the water off at the house creates problems??
If that's the case the leak is in the house. If it was underground between the pump and main house the pump would have continued to cycle and prevented air from entering system. With the house isolated from the pump and pressure side of the system water leaks out and allows air to enter the system.
Under slab leaks are sometimes hard to find. The flooring will need to be removed to (hopefully) find a damp spot in the slab. Sometimes customers would notice a warm spot if it was on the hot water side. We also have a listening device that helps hear the sound of water leaking. Unfortunately sometimes it was easier and cheaper to repipe overhead. This would be the case if flooring was difficult to remove and or would cost more than a repipe.
You can also try opening walls in the bathrooms, laundry and or kitchen to see if you can figure out how it was plumbed and if any part of the system can be isolated. Typical "American" plumbing would prevent connections under the slab in either pex or copper. If that's the case down there you will find mini made up manifolds in the walls near your bathroom or kitchen or laundry depending on layout and how it was plumbed.

Sorry this is bad news. You may get lucky but we don't see that too often. It's typically a bit cheaper to run the plumbing in the slab and it keeps the lines cool in warm climates but this is the disadvantage.
Good luck.

 

[Deere Dude]

Is there a check valve anywhere after the pump, like by the tank and before the pressure switch?

 

[hr3]

The floors are all tile and I hate to just start willy nilly jacking up floors.. Ooo and something I didn't mention , yesterday we lost pressure by about half for a short time but then it came right back but the pump showed good pressure... The pipe is some sort of rolled plastic coils, I cut into it to install an outside faucet and had to use special fittings, but in the house from what I have seen it's glued fittings. "I saw this from a bathroom remodel we had done" other than that all pipes are buried in concrete walls and floors.

 

[hr3]

Is there a check valve anywhere after the pump, like by the tank and before the pressure switch?

No nothing after the pump..

 

[MarkF48]

Not sure if some of the isolating you've done would have picked up on this. A leaky/stuck open flapper in my toilet drained my well overnight. I was scratching my head on this one for a while trying figure out where the water went. Depending where your toilet is, it could drain the pipes leaving air.

 

[Clint S]

Not sure if some of the isolating you've done would have picked up on this. A leaky/stuck open flapper in my toilet drained my well overnight. I was scratching my head on this one for a while trying figure out where the water went. Depending where your toilet is, it could drain the pipes leaving air.

I had a flapper do the same it was such a sight leak the pump would only come on once every 6 to 8 hours. What kind of pipe is it??? I once ran a 3/4 inch pipe through a leaky 1inch pipe about 200 feet to fix the leak

 

[zzvyb6]

When I had this problem at my barn, the plastic pipe under the slab had stainless hose clamps but rusty iron fasteners. Line was 1-1/4". I ran 1" plastic inside the failed line fished out the ends and reconnected. You can not tell the difference in flow rate,