Locating and repairing a leak on a buried residential water service line

Leak Detection & Repair

Water Leak Detection Across the SC Upstate & Midlands

A hidden leak on a buried water line wastes water every hour and shows up as a higher bill long before you see a puddle. Sloan Underground Construction pinpoints underground leaks using standard detection methods — acoustic listening, pressure isolation, and meter-flow analysis — then repairs them with one small excavation or a trenchless waterline replacement. Free written estimates before any digging starts.

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Sloan Underground Construction is a licensed South Carolina contractor based in Greenville, providing water leak detection and repair across the Upstate — Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson — and the Midlands, including Columbia, Lexington, Newberry, and Aiken, plus Western North Carolina. We locate hidden leaks on buried water service lines for homeowners and light commercial properties, then fix them — spot repair or full trenchless replacement — with a free written estimate before any work begins.

Warning Signs

What a hidden leak looks like

Signs You Have a Hidden Water Leak

Underground leaks rarely announce themselves. These five signals are how most homeowners across the Upstate and Midlands first find out water is escaping somewhere between the meter and the house.

A Sudden Spike in Your Water Bill

A bill that jumps with no change in household habits is the single most common first sign of an underground leak. Water escaping into the soil still runs through your meter. Our guide to why water bills suddenly climb walks through how to rule out other causes.

The Meter Spins With Everything Off

Shut off every fixture and appliance, then watch your water meter. If the dial or flow indicator keeps moving, water is leaving the system somewhere — and on a buried service line, that usually means a leak between the meter and the house.

Wet, Soggy, or Extra-Green Spots

A patch of yard that stays soft during dry weather, standing water with no rain, or a strip of grass noticeably greener than the rest often traces the path of a leaking line underneath. More symptoms are covered in our guide to water line leak signs.

Pressure Drops Across the Whole House

When every faucet and shower loses force at once, water is escaping before it reaches your fixtures. A systemwide drop points at the service line, not a single fixture — see our low water pressure diagnosis service for the full picture.

A Notice From Your Water Utility

Many Upstate and Midlands water providers flag unusual consumption and mail a high-usage notice. Utilities are responsible for the line up to the meter — a usage letter usually means the leak is on your side, on the buried line you own.

How It Works

Finding a leak you can't see

How Professional Water Leak Detection Works

Pinpointing a leak on a buried, pressurized pipe is a process of narrowing down. These are the standard methods used to locate underground leaks without exploratory digging.

Meter-Flow Analysis

With every fixture in the building shut off, the meter should read zero flow. Any movement confirms water is leaving the system, and the flow rate indicates roughly how much. Isolating the house shutoff valve then tells you whether the loss is inside the building or on the buried service line.

Pressure Isolation Testing

Sections of the line are valved off and pressurized one at a time. A section that holds pressure is sound; a section that bleeds down contains the leak. This narrows a leak from "somewhere in the yard" to one specific run of pipe before anyone touches a shovel.

Acoustic Listening

Water escaping a pressurized pipe makes a distinct hiss or rumble that travels along the pipe wall and through the soil. Acoustic listening equipment traces that sound above ground along the line's path, pinpointing the break — often to within a foot or two — so the repair excavation is one small hole.

Why It Matters

Locate first, dig once

Why Pinpointing the Leak First Saves Your Yard — and Your Budget

Without detection, finding a buried leak means guessing — trenching along the line's path until the break appears, then paying to restore everything that was dug up. Detection flips that: the leak is located from the surface, and the excavation is one small hole directly over the break.

Just as important, knowing exactly where and why the line failed drives the repair decision. A clean break in otherwise sound pipe is a spot-repair job. A leak in a corroded, decades-old line is a warning that the next failure is already forming — and that a full trenchless waterline replacement is the better spend.

One Small Hole, Not a Trench

What accurate leak location changes about the repair:

Targeted excavation directly over the break — lawns, driveways, and landscaping stay intact
An informed spot-repair vs. replacement decision based on the pipe's actual condition
A written price before digging starts — no open-ended exploratory work
Less time with the water shut off — most spot repairs are completed the same day

Found It. Now Fix It.

One call, start to finish

From Detection Straight to Repair

Sloan Underground doesn't just locate the leak and hand you a report. The same crew that pinpoints the break repairs it — a targeted spot repair, or a new line installed trenchless with horizontal directional drilling when the old pipe isn't worth saving.

Spot Repair or Full Waterline Replacement

A single break in sound pipe gets a targeted repair at the break point. A corroded or repeatedly failing line gets a new HDPE or PEX waterline pulled in trenchless — most residential replacements finish in one to two days.

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New Water Line Installation

When a property needs a new service line entirely — a rerouted run, a new connection, or a line for an addition or outbuilding — we bore and install it with minimal surface disturbance.

Explore Water Line Installation →

Where We Work

Leak Detection Across the Upstate & Midlands

From our Greenville base we handle water leak detection and repair throughout the SC Upstate — Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson — and across the Midlands, including Columbia, Lexington, Newberry, and Aiken.

Greenville, SC Spartanburg, SC Anderson, SC Columbia, SC Lexington, SC Newberry, SC Aiken, SC

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Learn More

Reading before you call

Leak Detection Guides From Our Blog

Water Leak Detection in the Upstate: What Greenville-Area Homeowners Should Know Leak Detection in the Midlands: Columbia, Lexington & Aiken What Water Leak Detection Costs in South Carolina Signs Your Water Line Is Leaking Why Is My Water Bill So High?

Leak Detection FAQs

You asked, we answered

Frequently Asked Questions About Water Leak Detection

How do professionals find underground water leaks?

The standard methods are acoustic listening, pressure isolation testing, and meter-flow analysis. Acoustic equipment picks up the sound of water escaping a pressurized pipe. Pressure isolation shuts off sections of the line to see where pressure holds and where it drops. Meter-flow analysis confirms water is moving when every fixture is off. Used together, these methods narrow a leak on a buried service line to a small, specific spot — so repair means one small hole, not an exploratory trench.

How do I know if my water line is leaking underground?

The most common signs are an unexplained spike in your water bill, a water meter that keeps spinning with every fixture off, soggy or unusually green patches in the yard, a drop in water pressure across the whole house, or a high-usage notice from your water utility. Any one of these is worth checking; two or more together strongly suggest a leak on the buried line between the meter and your home.

How much does it cost to repair a leaking water line?

Repairing a single underground leak typically costs $800 to $2,200 depending on depth and location. If the line is corroded throughout or has failed in multiple places, full trenchless waterline replacement is usually more cost-effective — typically $1,800 to $4,500 for residential properties. Sloan Underground provides a free written estimate after locating the leak, so you know the price before any digging starts.

Can a water leak be fixed without digging up my yard?

In most cases, yes. Once the leak is pinpointed, a spot repair requires only one small excavation directly over the break. If the line needs full replacement, trenchless horizontal directional drilling installs the new pipe underground between two small pits — driveways, landscaping, and hardscape stay intact. Exploratory trenching to hunt for a leak is exactly what professional detection avoids.

Should I repair the leak or replace the whole water line?

A single break in an otherwise sound pipe is a good candidate for spot repair. Replacement makes more sense when the line has leaked more than once, is over 50 years old, is made of galvanized steel or polybutylene, or shows widespread corrosion at the repair point. Because Sloan Underground both locates leaks and performs trenchless replacement, you get one honest recommendation and one written estimate for either path.

Who is responsible for a leak between the meter and the house?

In most South Carolina water systems, the utility owns the line up to and including the meter, and the property owner is responsible for everything from the meter to the building. That means a leak on the service line in your yard is typically yours to repair — and why utilities send high-usage notices rather than crews. Locating the leak precisely keeps that repair as small and inexpensive as possible.

Last Updated: August 2026