Our Process
How a job runs in Caldwell, step by step: free quote, written scope, written quote, sign-off - and the cheaper option named when there is one.
Sequence
Four steps, start to finish
A free quote by phone, and a written quote before any visit.
Call and tell us what you see
Where the water is, when it started, what the meter does with every faucet off, and whether the lot has city irrigation. Those answers rule a system in or out before anyone drives over.
Get the figure in writing
The estimated range turns into a written quote for the visit, with any after-hours charge said first. Nothing starts until you agree to it.
We separate, then listen
Drinking line against irrigation line, house against yard, hot side against cold. Then the tool that fits what is left: pressure, acoustic, thermal, moisture or tracer gas.
You keep the finding
The spot marked, how it was found, what the pipe is and what fixing it is likely to involve, written down for any licensed plumber or irrigation contractor you pick.
What it costs
Each job, priced
Estimated figures for the City of Caldwell. Nothing here is a quote until we have seen the job.
Leak Detection - estimated $150 - $400
Quoted for the visit, repair separate.
Water Line Leak Detection - estimated $150 - $400
The line traced, then listened along.
Irrigation Leak Detection - estimated $150 - $400
Station by station, while the line is pressurized.
Wall Leak Detection - estimated $200 - $400
Imaged and measured, nothing cut to look.
Emergency Leak Detection - estimated $150 - $400
Plus any after-hours charge, said on the call.
Before anyone is booked
Four checks that cost nothing
The first says whether drinking water is moving, and the last says whose pipe it may be.
Read the city meter with everything off
Every faucet and appliance off, then watch the low-flow indicator, the small dial or triangle. Turning means water is leaving the pipes past the meter. Still across two readings an hour apart means the drinking side is very likely fine.
Close the irrigation hand valve
If the lot has city pressurized irrigation, close the hand valve in the green box. A wet patch that dries over the next day or two was the irrigation line, which never touches the meter or the bill.
Close the house shutoff
With the meter still on, a dial that stops puts the loss inside the house; a dial that keeps turning puts it in the buried line between the meter and the house, which city code makes the owner's.
Check the bill against the dials
A bill is arithmetic on a reading. If the number does not match the register on the meter, take it to the City of Caldwell's utility billing first; the code even sets up a utility board for billing adjustment requests.
The local catch
A lawn line with no meter, and why the order of the visit matters
In most towns a leak shows on the bill. In much of Caldwell, half the water on a lot never passes a meter.
The City of Caldwell supplies drinking water from 15 groundwater wells, through a meter it owns. Many subdivisions also take irrigation water from the Caldwell Municipal Irrigation District, a separate pressurized system for lawns that the district bills by lot acreage. A leak on that second line can run all summer without a single gallon appearing on a statement.
So the visit runs in a set order: the meter, the hand valve, the house shutoff, and only then the equipment. A ground microphone pointed at the wrong line hears nothing useful, and a trench dug for the wrong system is an expensive way to learn which one was wet.
- Drinking line and irrigation line separated
- The free checks explained on the phone
- The City's side told apart from yours
- Finding and repair quoted separately
Want a number on it?
Call (208) 927-1595, say what you are seeing, and leave the call with a written quote and a time for Caldwell.
Talk to us
Talk to us about leak detection in Caldwell
Before you call
- Drinking line or irrigation line first
- The City's side told from yours
Where we work
Every area we cover