Why is water being consumed when my shutoff valve is closed?





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I have a shutoff valve in the crawlspace that operates just the four outside hose faucets. Heard the water rushing last year and sure enough the water meter at the road was reflecting water usage when we weren't using anything in the house.



I replaced the existing shutoff valve and it will shutoff the water to those outside faucets, but if I open it up the water is still rushing somewhere and the water meter shows usage. I have been everywhere in the crawlspace, inside the house, and the attic but can find no water coming out anywhere. The outside faucets will show a normal flow of water when I turn each on individually if I open up the valve, but no leaks to be found.



Any ideas? Do I need a different shutoff valve (I am using a standard one with the red circular shutoff handle)? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I let it go until now since we weren't here for months, in case you were wondering.










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  • You must carefully trace all the pipes from the shutoff valve to the four outside faucets.

    – A. I. Breveleri
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    Did the house ever have an irrigation system or automatic sprinkler installed?

    – A. I. Breveleri
    7 hours ago











  • Are the outside faucets actually in the yard? With buried pipe from the house?

    – Tyson
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    Something very odd here. Drain lines don't have shutoff valves, normally. And if one did, it would not cause a leak from the supply side. Though closing it (if that's what it is) and opening in the supply valve might just clarify where the leak is coming from, by backing up the associated drain, if it IS the associated drain. Curiouser and curiouser....

    – Ecnerwal
    2 hours ago






  • 1





    Can you post pictures of these valves and any plumbing around them?

    – Tyson
    2 hours ago


















2















I have a shutoff valve in the crawlspace that operates just the four outside hose faucets. Heard the water rushing last year and sure enough the water meter at the road was reflecting water usage when we weren't using anything in the house.



I replaced the existing shutoff valve and it will shutoff the water to those outside faucets, but if I open it up the water is still rushing somewhere and the water meter shows usage. I have been everywhere in the crawlspace, inside the house, and the attic but can find no water coming out anywhere. The outside faucets will show a normal flow of water when I turn each on individually if I open up the valve, but no leaks to be found.



Any ideas? Do I need a different shutoff valve (I am using a standard one with the red circular shutoff handle)? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I let it go until now since we weren't here for months, in case you were wondering.










share|improve this question









New contributor




ChuckY is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





















  • You must carefully trace all the pipes from the shutoff valve to the four outside faucets.

    – A. I. Breveleri
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    Did the house ever have an irrigation system or automatic sprinkler installed?

    – A. I. Breveleri
    7 hours ago











  • Are the outside faucets actually in the yard? With buried pipe from the house?

    – Tyson
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    Something very odd here. Drain lines don't have shutoff valves, normally. And if one did, it would not cause a leak from the supply side. Though closing it (if that's what it is) and opening in the supply valve might just clarify where the leak is coming from, by backing up the associated drain, if it IS the associated drain. Curiouser and curiouser....

    – Ecnerwal
    2 hours ago






  • 1





    Can you post pictures of these valves and any plumbing around them?

    – Tyson
    2 hours ago














2












2








2








I have a shutoff valve in the crawlspace that operates just the four outside hose faucets. Heard the water rushing last year and sure enough the water meter at the road was reflecting water usage when we weren't using anything in the house.



I replaced the existing shutoff valve and it will shutoff the water to those outside faucets, but if I open it up the water is still rushing somewhere and the water meter shows usage. I have been everywhere in the crawlspace, inside the house, and the attic but can find no water coming out anywhere. The outside faucets will show a normal flow of water when I turn each on individually if I open up the valve, but no leaks to be found.



Any ideas? Do I need a different shutoff valve (I am using a standard one with the red circular shutoff handle)? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I let it go until now since we weren't here for months, in case you were wondering.










share|improve this question









New contributor




ChuckY is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












I have a shutoff valve in the crawlspace that operates just the four outside hose faucets. Heard the water rushing last year and sure enough the water meter at the road was reflecting water usage when we weren't using anything in the house.



I replaced the existing shutoff valve and it will shutoff the water to those outside faucets, but if I open it up the water is still rushing somewhere and the water meter shows usage. I have been everywhere in the crawlspace, inside the house, and the attic but can find no water coming out anywhere. The outside faucets will show a normal flow of water when I turn each on individually if I open up the valve, but no leaks to be found.



Any ideas? Do I need a different shutoff valve (I am using a standard one with the red circular shutoff handle)? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I let it go until now since we weren't here for months, in case you were wondering.







plumbing






share|improve this question









New contributor




ChuckY is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question









New contributor




ChuckY is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 6 hours ago









isherwood

51.7k462132




51.7k462132






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Check out our Code of Conduct.









asked 7 hours ago









ChuckYChuckY

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111




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New contributor





ChuckY is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






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Check out our Code of Conduct.













  • You must carefully trace all the pipes from the shutoff valve to the four outside faucets.

    – A. I. Breveleri
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    Did the house ever have an irrigation system or automatic sprinkler installed?

    – A. I. Breveleri
    7 hours ago











  • Are the outside faucets actually in the yard? With buried pipe from the house?

    – Tyson
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    Something very odd here. Drain lines don't have shutoff valves, normally. And if one did, it would not cause a leak from the supply side. Though closing it (if that's what it is) and opening in the supply valve might just clarify where the leak is coming from, by backing up the associated drain, if it IS the associated drain. Curiouser and curiouser....

    – Ecnerwal
    2 hours ago






  • 1





    Can you post pictures of these valves and any plumbing around them?

    – Tyson
    2 hours ago



















  • You must carefully trace all the pipes from the shutoff valve to the four outside faucets.

    – A. I. Breveleri
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    Did the house ever have an irrigation system or automatic sprinkler installed?

    – A. I. Breveleri
    7 hours ago











  • Are the outside faucets actually in the yard? With buried pipe from the house?

    – Tyson
    7 hours ago






  • 2





    Something very odd here. Drain lines don't have shutoff valves, normally. And if one did, it would not cause a leak from the supply side. Though closing it (if that's what it is) and opening in the supply valve might just clarify where the leak is coming from, by backing up the associated drain, if it IS the associated drain. Curiouser and curiouser....

    – Ecnerwal
    2 hours ago






  • 1





    Can you post pictures of these valves and any plumbing around them?

    – Tyson
    2 hours ago

















You must carefully trace all the pipes from the shutoff valve to the four outside faucets.

– A. I. Breveleri
7 hours ago





You must carefully trace all the pipes from the shutoff valve to the four outside faucets.

– A. I. Breveleri
7 hours ago




2




2





Did the house ever have an irrigation system or automatic sprinkler installed?

– A. I. Breveleri
7 hours ago





Did the house ever have an irrigation system or automatic sprinkler installed?

– A. I. Breveleri
7 hours ago













Are the outside faucets actually in the yard? With buried pipe from the house?

– Tyson
7 hours ago





Are the outside faucets actually in the yard? With buried pipe from the house?

– Tyson
7 hours ago




2




2





Something very odd here. Drain lines don't have shutoff valves, normally. And if one did, it would not cause a leak from the supply side. Though closing it (if that's what it is) and opening in the supply valve might just clarify where the leak is coming from, by backing up the associated drain, if it IS the associated drain. Curiouser and curiouser....

– Ecnerwal
2 hours ago





Something very odd here. Drain lines don't have shutoff valves, normally. And if one did, it would not cause a leak from the supply side. Though closing it (if that's what it is) and opening in the supply valve might just clarify where the leak is coming from, by backing up the associated drain, if it IS the associated drain. Curiouser and curiouser....

– Ecnerwal
2 hours ago




1




1





Can you post pictures of these valves and any plumbing around them?

– Tyson
2 hours ago





Can you post pictures of these valves and any plumbing around them?

– Tyson
2 hours ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















6














It's clearly NOT the shutoff valve - water is going somewhere, and the valve is shutting it off. So it's doing it's job. There has to be a pipe, or a branch off a pipe that is going somewhere and running water, after that valve, from what you have described.



Typically where water is heard and the water meter is spinning but you don't see any, it's going into a drain somewhere - why anything tied to the "outside faucet shutoff under the house" would do that, I surely don't know, unless it is irrigation or pool related - my usual suspect inside the house (because I had one that did this occasionally, and when it kept doing it every so often after I cleaned the valves to stop it each time, finally replaced it) is a water softener, but that seems highly unlikely here.



Depending strongly on the pipe layout, you might get an indication of which branch is most suspect by measuring the pressure at each outside faucet. Not guaranteed, but possibly one will be considerably lower than the others, and that would be the one to double-check the pipe to, for any branches you may have missed.



Toilets are the other usual one, but they tend to be more obvious as far as being seen/heard misbehaving. Not to mention that you'd notice it not filling with the shutoff closed.






share|improve this answer


























  • You got me thinking, Ecnerwal. There was a toilet that we first heard the rushing at last year, but didn't see anything obvious. I could shut that off and see if that is the issue. If not I have a few other ideas from your answer, including checking each possible connection in turn. Thanks!

    – ChuckY
    6 hours ago











  • If the toilet is working and the valve that your question is about is shutoff the it’s not the toilet.

    – Tyson
    6 hours ago











  • Yeah, you are right, Tyson. It was likely just coincidence that our initially hearing the rushing near that toilet was just its proximity to the shutoff valve in the crawlspace below. Thanks.

    – ChuckY
    6 hours ago














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1 Answer
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1






active

oldest

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active

oldest

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active

oldest

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6














It's clearly NOT the shutoff valve - water is going somewhere, and the valve is shutting it off. So it's doing it's job. There has to be a pipe, or a branch off a pipe that is going somewhere and running water, after that valve, from what you have described.



Typically where water is heard and the water meter is spinning but you don't see any, it's going into a drain somewhere - why anything tied to the "outside faucet shutoff under the house" would do that, I surely don't know, unless it is irrigation or pool related - my usual suspect inside the house (because I had one that did this occasionally, and when it kept doing it every so often after I cleaned the valves to stop it each time, finally replaced it) is a water softener, but that seems highly unlikely here.



Depending strongly on the pipe layout, you might get an indication of which branch is most suspect by measuring the pressure at each outside faucet. Not guaranteed, but possibly one will be considerably lower than the others, and that would be the one to double-check the pipe to, for any branches you may have missed.



Toilets are the other usual one, but they tend to be more obvious as far as being seen/heard misbehaving. Not to mention that you'd notice it not filling with the shutoff closed.






share|improve this answer


























  • You got me thinking, Ecnerwal. There was a toilet that we first heard the rushing at last year, but didn't see anything obvious. I could shut that off and see if that is the issue. If not I have a few other ideas from your answer, including checking each possible connection in turn. Thanks!

    – ChuckY
    6 hours ago











  • If the toilet is working and the valve that your question is about is shutoff the it’s not the toilet.

    – Tyson
    6 hours ago











  • Yeah, you are right, Tyson. It was likely just coincidence that our initially hearing the rushing near that toilet was just its proximity to the shutoff valve in the crawlspace below. Thanks.

    – ChuckY
    6 hours ago


















6














It's clearly NOT the shutoff valve - water is going somewhere, and the valve is shutting it off. So it's doing it's job. There has to be a pipe, or a branch off a pipe that is going somewhere and running water, after that valve, from what you have described.



Typically where water is heard and the water meter is spinning but you don't see any, it's going into a drain somewhere - why anything tied to the "outside faucet shutoff under the house" would do that, I surely don't know, unless it is irrigation or pool related - my usual suspect inside the house (because I had one that did this occasionally, and when it kept doing it every so often after I cleaned the valves to stop it each time, finally replaced it) is a water softener, but that seems highly unlikely here.



Depending strongly on the pipe layout, you might get an indication of which branch is most suspect by measuring the pressure at each outside faucet. Not guaranteed, but possibly one will be considerably lower than the others, and that would be the one to double-check the pipe to, for any branches you may have missed.



Toilets are the other usual one, but they tend to be more obvious as far as being seen/heard misbehaving. Not to mention that you'd notice it not filling with the shutoff closed.






share|improve this answer


























  • You got me thinking, Ecnerwal. There was a toilet that we first heard the rushing at last year, but didn't see anything obvious. I could shut that off and see if that is the issue. If not I have a few other ideas from your answer, including checking each possible connection in turn. Thanks!

    – ChuckY
    6 hours ago











  • If the toilet is working and the valve that your question is about is shutoff the it’s not the toilet.

    – Tyson
    6 hours ago











  • Yeah, you are right, Tyson. It was likely just coincidence that our initially hearing the rushing near that toilet was just its proximity to the shutoff valve in the crawlspace below. Thanks.

    – ChuckY
    6 hours ago
















6












6








6







It's clearly NOT the shutoff valve - water is going somewhere, and the valve is shutting it off. So it's doing it's job. There has to be a pipe, or a branch off a pipe that is going somewhere and running water, after that valve, from what you have described.



Typically where water is heard and the water meter is spinning but you don't see any, it's going into a drain somewhere - why anything tied to the "outside faucet shutoff under the house" would do that, I surely don't know, unless it is irrigation or pool related - my usual suspect inside the house (because I had one that did this occasionally, and when it kept doing it every so often after I cleaned the valves to stop it each time, finally replaced it) is a water softener, but that seems highly unlikely here.



Depending strongly on the pipe layout, you might get an indication of which branch is most suspect by measuring the pressure at each outside faucet. Not guaranteed, but possibly one will be considerably lower than the others, and that would be the one to double-check the pipe to, for any branches you may have missed.



Toilets are the other usual one, but they tend to be more obvious as far as being seen/heard misbehaving. Not to mention that you'd notice it not filling with the shutoff closed.






share|improve this answer















It's clearly NOT the shutoff valve - water is going somewhere, and the valve is shutting it off. So it's doing it's job. There has to be a pipe, or a branch off a pipe that is going somewhere and running water, after that valve, from what you have described.



Typically where water is heard and the water meter is spinning but you don't see any, it's going into a drain somewhere - why anything tied to the "outside faucet shutoff under the house" would do that, I surely don't know, unless it is irrigation or pool related - my usual suspect inside the house (because I had one that did this occasionally, and when it kept doing it every so often after I cleaned the valves to stop it each time, finally replaced it) is a water softener, but that seems highly unlikely here.



Depending strongly on the pipe layout, you might get an indication of which branch is most suspect by measuring the pressure at each outside faucet. Not guaranteed, but possibly one will be considerably lower than the others, and that would be the one to double-check the pipe to, for any branches you may have missed.



Toilets are the other usual one, but they tend to be more obvious as far as being seen/heard misbehaving. Not to mention that you'd notice it not filling with the shutoff closed.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 6 hours ago

























answered 6 hours ago









EcnerwalEcnerwal

56.1k23994




56.1k23994













  • You got me thinking, Ecnerwal. There was a toilet that we first heard the rushing at last year, but didn't see anything obvious. I could shut that off and see if that is the issue. If not I have a few other ideas from your answer, including checking each possible connection in turn. Thanks!

    – ChuckY
    6 hours ago











  • If the toilet is working and the valve that your question is about is shutoff the it’s not the toilet.

    – Tyson
    6 hours ago











  • Yeah, you are right, Tyson. It was likely just coincidence that our initially hearing the rushing near that toilet was just its proximity to the shutoff valve in the crawlspace below. Thanks.

    – ChuckY
    6 hours ago





















  • You got me thinking, Ecnerwal. There was a toilet that we first heard the rushing at last year, but didn't see anything obvious. I could shut that off and see if that is the issue. If not I have a few other ideas from your answer, including checking each possible connection in turn. Thanks!

    – ChuckY
    6 hours ago











  • If the toilet is working and the valve that your question is about is shutoff the it’s not the toilet.

    – Tyson
    6 hours ago











  • Yeah, you are right, Tyson. It was likely just coincidence that our initially hearing the rushing near that toilet was just its proximity to the shutoff valve in the crawlspace below. Thanks.

    – ChuckY
    6 hours ago



















You got me thinking, Ecnerwal. There was a toilet that we first heard the rushing at last year, but didn't see anything obvious. I could shut that off and see if that is the issue. If not I have a few other ideas from your answer, including checking each possible connection in turn. Thanks!

– ChuckY
6 hours ago





You got me thinking, Ecnerwal. There was a toilet that we first heard the rushing at last year, but didn't see anything obvious. I could shut that off and see if that is the issue. If not I have a few other ideas from your answer, including checking each possible connection in turn. Thanks!

– ChuckY
6 hours ago













If the toilet is working and the valve that your question is about is shutoff the it’s not the toilet.

– Tyson
6 hours ago





If the toilet is working and the valve that your question is about is shutoff the it’s not the toilet.

– Tyson
6 hours ago













Yeah, you are right, Tyson. It was likely just coincidence that our initially hearing the rushing near that toilet was just its proximity to the shutoff valve in the crawlspace below. Thanks.

– ChuckY
6 hours ago







Yeah, you are right, Tyson. It was likely just coincidence that our initially hearing the rushing near that toilet was just its proximity to the shutoff valve in the crawlspace below. Thanks.

– ChuckY
6 hours ago












ChuckY is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










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