In Lafayette, the meter pit is the dividing line: the city owns the service line up to it, and the homeowner owns everything from the pit to the house. A plumber can test that private section and the plumbing inside to find where water is escaping. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in Lafayette.
About Lafayette's water
Lafayette grew out of a coal-mining and farming past into a suburban city in southeastern Boulder County. The city runs its own water utility, drawing surface water from Baseline, Waneka and Goose Haven reservoirs, and it keeps a service line material inventory covering both the city-owned and customer-owned portions of each line. Owners are notified if a lead or galvanized line on their side needs replacement, so a leak on an old line may be worth raising with the city as well.
What to do first
- Turn off every faucet, appliance and the sprinkler controller.
- Read the meter, wait an hour without using any water and read it again.
- Put food coloring in each toilet tank and check the bowls after 15 minutes.
- Close the main shutoff in the house if water is spraying or pooling.
- For a main break or water coming up before the meter pit, call Public Works at 303-661-1277; after hours or on weekends, call Boulder County Dispatch at 303-441-4444.
- Take photos and jot down when you first noticed the problem.
Symptoms and what they usually point to
| Symptom | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| Meter turning with the house idle | A leak somewhere past the meter pit |
| Soft or muddy ground between the pit and the foundation | Break in the owner-side service line |
| Ceiling stain below a bathroom | Shower valve, supply joint or drain connection |
| Hot spot on a tile floor | Hot water line leaking under the slab |
| A zone of lawn that never dries out | Cracked irrigation line or stuck valve |
| Toilet refilling by itself | Worn flapper or fill valve |
What affects the cost
- How long it takes to isolate the leak to one part of the plumbing
- Whether it sits in the yard, a slab, a wall or a finished basement
- Equipment needed to pinpoint the exact spot
- The size of the repair, from a fitting to a new run of service line
- Any permit through the City of Lafayette Building Division
Irrigation leaks are worth a closer look in spring. Lafayette's backflow program applies mainly to commercial and non-single-family accounts, where irrigation assemblies are tested once a year, but any home sprinkler system can crack a lateral over the winter and leak quietly for weeks once it is turned back on.
Leak Detection questions in Lafayette
Who pays to fix a leak between the water main and my house?
Who do I call if water is coming up at the meter pit or the street?
Can a toilet that runs on its own raise my water bill?
Can a winter freeze cause a leak I don't notice until spring?
More plumbing services in Lafayette
Leak Detection nearby
Helpful guides
Sources
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