Slab leak repair and replacement in Yuma, AZ

Yuma sits at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila rivers near the borders with California and Mexico. It is one of the sunniest places in the country, a major winter vegetable growing area and home to a large winter visitor population.

Yuma grew around the Yuma Crossing, one of the few places where the Colorado River could be forded for hundreds of miles. A military post dates from 1850, the Quartermaster Depot from 1864 and the settlement was incorporated as Arizona City in 1871. Yuma Territorial Prison ran from 1876 to 1909.

Most slab leak visits in Yuma begin with a meter reading, not a tool. Yuma had 97,285 residents at the 2020 Census. Many homes in Yuma date from the 1960s through the 1980s, built on slabs with supply lines under the floor.

Lines in houses from these years tend to gather around the kitchen, baths and water heater closet, so the layout counts. Most streets are single-family neighborhoods. That shapes how we plan a visit to Yuma.

Pools and drip irrigation are common, so they are the first things to rule out when the meter moves. The ground is hard and dry for most of the year. It affects how access is made. The first job, before repairs come up, is to prove the water is leaving from under the floor.

Crews that work Yuma (2 ZIP codes) also cover Bullhead City and Kingman. Yuma County calls, Yuma included, are routed to crews in River & Western Arizona. The signs Yuma callers describe are the familiar ones, and the checks follow the same order.

Several things can push up a bill or turn a meter in Arizona: a slab leak, a pool fill valve, drip irrigation, a buried yard line, a swamp cooler or a toilet that keeps running. Each is checked in order before the slab is blamed.

Read the meter with the house quiet, read it again with the controller off, then mark the pool. If water is still leaving after that, the service line or a slab line is the likely place.

With every tap closed and the dishwasher and washing machine stopped, look at the little dial or triangle on the meter that shows flow. Give it five minutes.

A second pinhole in the same house is common, and a third is a signal to talk about the line as a whole rather than one leak at a time.

Water lost to an evaporative cooler, a toilet running on, a hose bib leak or a dripping fixture leaves no puddle indoors. A single one rarely moves a meter fast, though together they can make a bill climb.