leakplumbingwater
Prior to moving into my house two years ago, part of he agreement was that the owners would replace the water main valve. It's been good up until a couple weeks ago. There's drip coming out of it about every 5 seconds. It looks to me like I could put thread seal at that connection. Does that sound reasonable? Or might the problem be worse?
If it was the pressure relief valve, then you would see water coming out that line. It sounds like a failing pressure regulator valve to me. To check, pickup a simple pressure meter from the local HI store:
If you see this climbing around the same time the surging sound is happening, locate this device which should be shortly after the main shutoff and replace it:
The meter likely has rubber gaskets that make a seal between the meter body and the pipes; like a garden hose. Temperature changes or age (likely only if the city installed a used meter with used gaskets) could have changed the pliability of the gaskets. I can't say if the nuts loosened, but there shouldn't be any teflon tape or pipe dope on the threads. If they start to leak again, or if you're sufficiently worried, you can check the gaskets. Turn off the water at the main and you can easily take the pipes apart from the meter and inspect the gaskets. New ones can be purchased at any plumbing supply store for a couple bucks.
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UPDATE: I contacted the town. After a few days a plumber from the PDW showed up and installed a new meter, so far so good.