Water Line Repair & Replacement in Fort Worth, TX

Signs your water service line needs repair

• A wet or extra-green strip of lawn between the meter and the house when it hasn't rained
• A water bill that climbs while your water use hasn't changed
• Low pressure at every fixture at once
• Brown or rusty water, especially after the taps sit overnight
• A meter that keeps moving when nothing is turned on

Quick check: is the leak between the meter and the house?

1. Turn everything off: faucets, sprinklers and anything else that uses water.
2. Watch the meter. Lift the meter box lid and watch the dial or leak indicator for a few minutes.
3. If it moves, close the house shut-off valve, often near a front hose bib or in the garage, and watch again.
4. Still moving? The leak is most likely in the yard line. Stopped? It's inside the house, so book leak detection.

Why water lines fail in Fort Worth

Galvanized pipe in older neighborhoods

Many 1920s–60s homes in Riverside, Oakhurst, Six Points and other older Fort Worth neighborhoods still have galvanized steel supply lines. They rust from the inside: scale narrows the pipe, pressure drops, the water turns brown, and the wall eventually pinholes or splits at a threaded joint.

North Texas expansive clay

Our clay soil swells when wet and shrinks when dry, bending buried pipe. Leaks often show up after a long dry summer or when heavy rain re-wets the ground. Under the house, the same movement causes slab leaks.

Roots and risers

Roots crowd in on a weeping joint, and the riser where the line leaves the ground beside the house moves with the foundation and takes the brunt of hard freezes (see frozen pipes).

Got a Fort Worth Water letter about a galvanized service line?

Fort Worth Water has inventoried its service lines under the federal lead and copper rules. The city reports no lead and no unknown-material lines, but it is notifying owners, including multifamily and commercial owners, whose lines are classed as “galvanized requiring replacement.” Notices go out every year. Under the federal rules, a galvanized line gets that label when it is, or once was, downstream of lead pipe.

If you got a letter:

• Check which side of the meter it refers to: the city's, yours or both.
• Have us confirm the material on your side, at the meter and where the line enters the house.
• Get a quote to replace your side from the meter to the house.

Repair or replace your water line?

We confirm the leak and the pipe material first, and you choose before work starts.

• Repair usually makes sense for a single leak in copper or plastic pipe that's otherwise sound, such as a root or shovel strike. We dig down to the leak and replace the damaged section.
• Replacement is usually the smarter call for galvanized pipe, a line that has leaked before, or low pressure and rusty water throughout the house. We run a new line from the meter to the house.

Afterward we flush the line and check the pressure at your fixtures. Galvanized pipe inside the house too? Ask about repiping at the same time. A failing pressure regulator is a water pressure repair, and a brand-new line for an addition or new build is water line installation.

Broken water line? Do this first

Water line repair FAQ

Call for water line repair in Fort Worth

Soggy yard, rising bill or a letter from Fort Worth Water? Call (817) 755-5621. We cover Fort Worth neighborhoods from the Northside to Fairmount and Near Southside, plus nearby service areas. New customers get $50 off, seniors, military and first responders get 10% off, and there's a $0 dispatch fee with a repair. Terms are on our coupons page.