Port Townsend: My Water Meter Is Moving With Everything Turned Off

Why this happens in Port Townsend

The most common cause we find in Port Townsend is a buried service line leak. The indicator keeps moving with the house isolated and irrigation isolated. On waterfront near Point Hudson with till toward Discovery Bay underneath, that's where we look first.

We also check a hose bib or outbuilding line, because in Port Townsend it explains a real share of meter moving with everything off calls. A shop, barn or hydrant branch that tees off before the house shutoff.

Don't overlook a fixture in the house. The indicator stops when the house shutoff is closed. On Port Townsend properties from an 1880s Victorian seaport ringed by mid-century neighborhoods it comes up more than you'd think.

Before you call

The sandy outwash under much of the city hides leaks completely; the City bill is the sign.

Before we arrive in Port Townsend, three things you can do: isolate irrigation and any outbuilding branches. Time the meter over an hour to get gallons per hour. Close the house main shutoff and watch again. None of it requires tools, and all of it helps us trace the line faster on mid-century grid lots on Sheridan Street.

What happens next

Fixing meter moving with everything off here usually ends with underground water leak detection near Uptown: trace the line with pipe and cable locator, confirm and mark on small Victorian lots in Uptown, correlate. One crew, one visit, outwash sand under the historic districts put back the way it was.

We've handled meter moving with everything off near Point Hudson where the cause was poly on the Cape George parcels, and near Hastings Avenue where clay seams in the uplands was hiding a drain failure. A dedicated trip across the Hood Canal Bridge; we schedule Port Townsend so you aren't waiting a whole day.