Repair a leak in the Mains Water Line to your house

How to fix a poly mains water pipe yourself
Oh dear, are you just like me and dealing with a leaking water mains or town supply line? this can be a notoriously difficult and expensive job.
In this video I make a repair to our leaking water supply that doesn't cost much at all!

In this 9 minute video, I give you the steps we went through to stop the leaking of water (and money) down the drain.

00:00 We discovered a water leak that cost us thousands
00:46 Water gushing out through the gaps in the concrete
01:52 Cut concrete driveway to access water mains pipe
02:20 Don't patch your concrete like this
03:01 Digging down to find the water mains pipe
03:55 PE Poly pipe leaking under mains water pressure
04:14 What causes a water pipe to start leaking?
05:02 Pipe Cutters used to cut poly water pipe
06:03 Turn water mains off before working on plumbing
07:00 How to connect Poly pipe fittings
07:31 Bury PE Pipe in sand to avoid damage
07:55 How to tell if you have a leak in your water mains

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There are a couple of different tools and things I use throughout the video, I'll add them here, when clicked these links will take you directly to Amazon or an eBay site, InspireDIY is an Amazon associate/eBay Affiliate. Using these links does not impact the price in anyway for you, but InspireDIY may be able to earn from recommendations.

9" grinder (not the safest tool I own) fitted with a concrete cutting disk,
Craftright 3.5kg Sledge Hammer ($40 Bunnings),
Cyclone Hex Fencing Bar ($63 Mitre10),
Trojan Long Handle Spade ($23 Bunnings),

Paving sand (any hardware or landscaping store)

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[bartbug]

Nice work mate, and a great attitude to this problem. Most people would be throwing their hands in the air about this. Solid job

[braden]

I enjoyed your video mate. I have a water mains leak within the house which is anywhere between the front door to the pipework under the stairs. The Waterboard has just confirmed this after digging up the drive. I am trying to gain a bit of knowledge before I tackle this job. Being a full-time carer means saving the pennies. Thank you for all the info mate.

[miguelmelo]

Great video, very informative. I've learned how to connect the pipes. Thank you

[michaeltang]

Thank you very much for sharing your video. It’s very helpful, because I had a water pipe leaks under cement of my driveway.🙏

[shaggymalone]

You should always use a pair of footprints to tighten your fittings up. You would be surprised how many leaks I've gone to and it's just a previous repair that wasn't tightened properly. Great job though.

[davidstone]

Excellent video! I’m having to investigate a leak now that was repaired 3 years ago by previous homeowners. Fortunately it’s source appears to be in the lawn. Nice touch with the cardboards when adding the sand. Smart. Take care from America!

[BCamden]

Obviously an Australian (great) lucky you, poly pipe, unfortunately for me, old steel pipe, but what a great episode, love the safety and the can do attitude.

[indo]

What the part name do u use for repair

[Robert-fqwx]

Nice job. Hoping my issue isn't this bad. Hopefully just a bad connection to the main. We'll see. Have to wait for the water company to come out first.

[loriAlessiroberts]

Hi, I had a water leak on my supply pipe that was running under my house for five months whilst the home insurance and water board repaired it. It was reported in the March and continued to run until August while they told me it wouldn't damage my foundations. 2 years on my drains from kitchen, utility and WC have collapsed along with all plumbing and water has flooded my crawl space. My internal walls are now cracking. Do you think this is due to the delay in repairing the pipe? My paths and drive have also dunk and cracked. Thanks!

[jdenino]

Just paid a plumbing company $4, 700 to fix one of these poly pipes but it was 6 feet down under the lawn in the front and they had to use a backhoe to dig up the ground. We live in a freeze zone in the northeast U.S.

[kadalora]

Hey mate great video thanks. I currently have water coming up in my driveway and am having trouble locating the pipes, any tips? I guess the sonar thing is the best tool for locating the exact leak location. Just one tip: it's better to do the repair then leave the hole open and do the water meter photo thing for at least one night, THEN backfill etc.. because if you find it's still leaking.. you've gotta dig it all back up again!

[userbosco]

I have the same issue with my ef'n pool. Why the hell did anyone ever think using poly pipe underground was a good idea? At least I'm not having to cut a hole in my concrete to get to it. Ugh.

[MichaelDillin]

Either compact the dirt underneath really well then no matter what is needed metal is for structural cars trucks heavyweight if you do a good job that wasn't necessary I have my front walkway zero cracks and it has no reinforcements, I did put 5 in of gravel that also makes it strong and flexible like train tracks train tracks are on gravel no concrete

[jsprz]

What add sand? Would like to know since I just repaired a line too

[nieshausa]

Please let me know the parts used to make the t-connection . I think collar and coupler

[americanpancakelive]

Are you back filling with construction sand?? nice video

[chalronbjork]

Think mine is under the driveway (paved and shared driveway). *sigh* Mine literally started just after the water corporation changed over the water meters

[pyroman]

6:35 - GoPro on a stick with a brick.... with a split personality named Cam & Mike

[guangrun]

those black pipes ... will leak one place to the next . learning from my experience, replace them