[Bill]

Originally Posted by Anjdog2003

Have her move in with you, problem solved.

Originally Posted by Bill

There is a break, yes, it's in between the meter and the house. Time to break out the coathanger "divining rod" and locate the water pipe. You do that by running a bunch of water through, maybe run a couple of bathtubs, grasp the bent rod loosely, and walk perpendicular to the way the pipe must run. Keep doing that, and you'll have an idea where the line runs. You'll know when you are over the pipe. Serious. I've seen the old timer pipeliners locate pipelines that way, and they are generally spot on, confirmed with an actual pipe locator that chases cathodic protection, or the electric the locator pipe shoots into the pipe.

Could be a root, could also be a pvc coupling that the glue has failed on, and is now leaking. Depending on the age of the home, the pipe might be down a couple of feet, but most probably is about 18", from what I have seen.

If you have the luxury of time, have her cut off the water at the meter for a week or two, wait for the lawn to dry up, then turn the water back on. When you see the wet spot form, there's the spot.

Bonus, she can just come stay with you for that week while there's no water at the house!

Otherwise, you'll just have to start digging random spots along the water line. When you do excavate a spot, you might see some water traveling along the outside of the pipe, which will tell you that the leak is upstream of where you just dug.