A Water Line Burst and Water Is Everywhere
Shut the water off, keep clear, don't dig, and call a crew that can locate, excavate and repair tonight.
Water is running across the lawn or down the driveway, pressure in the house has collapsed, and it's getting worse by the minute. A buried service line that has let go completely is dumping water at full pressure into the ground under your property, and the only way to stop it is to shut off the water. This is the one leak problem where speed matters more than diagnosis, so here is the order of operations.
Stop the water at the house main shutoff, or at the meter box if the house valve won't turn, or at the pump breaker on a well. Get valuables and electrical devices out of a flooding crawlspace. Keep people and vehicles off the wet ground, which can collapse over a washed-out trench. Don't dig; the water is surfacing where the ground let it out, not where the pipe failed. Then call.
We answer 24 hours a day and we come with pumps, lights, locating equipment and the mini excavator on the first trip. We pump down the standing water, locate the break even on a catastrophic failure, open the ground once, make a sound buried-rated repair, and on most residential breaks have your water back on before we leave. Then we talk about whether the rest of the line is the same age and material as the part that failed.
What it usually means
Old pipe that finally gave out
Galvanized at a thread, polybutylene split along its length, brittle poly at a rock. The most common cause, and usually a sign the rest of the line is close behind.
A freeze
A shallow or exposed line that froze and split, leaking when it thawed. Common after a cold snap on north-facing slopes and at well houses.
Damage from digging
A fence post, a tree stake, a landscaper's shovel, an excavator that didn't have the private line marked.
Ground movement
Clay on Bainbridge and the bluffs shifts rigid pipe until a joint lets go.
What to check first
- Shut off the water: house main, meter valve, or well breaker.
- Clear valuables and electrical devices from a flooding crawlspace.
- Keep everyone off the wet ground.
- Don't dig.
- Call (206) 354-9906.
When to call
- Water is actively running
- Pressure has collapsed
- A crawlspace or basement is filling
- A sinkhole has opened
The fix
When it's a buried line or an exterior drain, the fix is 24/7 Emergency Water Line Repair: we locate first, open the ground once, repair or replace, and put the surface back. One crew, 24 hours a day. (206) 354-9906.
What it looks like when we find it
Water line burst, town by town
The likely causes shift with the ground, the housing era and the water utility. Pick your community.
Bremerton
The shipyard city's older galvanized lines fail quietly and show up as a wet lawn or a water bill nobody can explain.
Silverdale
The 1980s and 90s subdivision boom around the mall left thousands of polybutylene service lines that are now failing on schedule.
Port Orchard
The county seat's hillside lots and clay soils turn small leaks into slope problems, and long rural runs hide breaks for months.
Poulsbo
Little Norway's mix of century-old downtown lines and fast-draining bay-side outwash means leaks hide well and fail suddenly.
Bainbridge Island
Clay soils and 500-foot driveways make island leaks slow to surface and expensive to guess at, which is why we locate before we dig.
Kingston
Ferry-town acreage with long wooded service runs where a leak can hide under hardpan for an entire winter.
Keyport
A century-old Navy village with short lots, old lines and shoreline clay that keeps everything damp.
Tracyton
Bluff-side lots over Dyes Inlet where seeps and springs make it easy to mistake groundwater for a leak and vice versa.
Hansville
Beach cabins at the tip of the peninsula with shallow lines, high water tables and a long drive for anyone who isn't already in Kitsap.
Indianola
A century-old summer colony where shared lines, easements and bluff clay make leaks a neighborhood puzzle.
Suquamish
Two utilities, mixed-era housing and Agate Pass shoreline clay in the heart of the Port Madison reservation.
Manchester
Rich Passage waterfront lots where the service line runs downhill and every leak finds the beach.
Enetai
East Bremerton's bluff-side neighborhood where mid-century copper lines fail on slopes that drain toward the bay.
Lofall
Rural acreage between Poulsbo and the Hood Canal Bridge where well lines run hundreds of feet through hardpan.
Olalla
Well country at the south end of Kitsap where a leaking line shows up as a pump that won't shut off.
Seabeck
Hood Canal forest parcels where boulders, hardpan and long well lines make guessing at a leak an expensive mistake.
East Port Orchard
South Kitsap's 1970s and 80s subdivisions where copper and poly lines are reaching the end of their run.
Rollingbay
The northeast corner of Bainbridge where clay slopes, long drives and small community systems keep leaks hidden for seasons.
Port Townsend
A Victorian seaport where 1890s service lines sit under historic sidewalks and the gravity pipeline from the Quilcene delivers the water.
Questions
Will I have water tonight?
Do you come at night?
What fixes it
24/7 Emergency Water Line Repair
Around-the-clock response for broken mains, flooding yards and water that's been shut off to stop it.
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Water Line Repair
Spot repair of a broken or leaking underground water service line, from excavation to restoration.
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Underground Water Leak Detection
Acoustic and correlator leak detection that pinpoints a buried water line break before anyone digs.
Read more →Something underground isn't right?
We answer 24 hours a day. We locate before we dig, and we handle the whole job with our own crew and equipment.