In a lot of El Cajon yards, the water main runs through ground that shifts with the seasons. Where the soil is clay, it swells when wet and shrinks when dry, year over year, putting stress on the buried line from the meter to the house, and an older main, especially original galvanized, may have been taking that stress for a long time. When one finally gives, the usual signs are a wet spot that stays after the sprinklers are off, a meter creeping with everything off, pressure dropping house wide, or a bill that jumped for no clear reason.
Locating comes first. Tracing maps the line's route, and paired with leak locating it helps narrow down the failure so the digging can stay focused. The fix depends on what turns up. A fitting that let go may get a targeted repair right where it failed. A section strained by ground that shifts gets addressed as a section. Original galvanized that's corroded through usually needs replacing, and trenchless options matter where a run passes under a driveway or RV pad, since pulling new line through can spare the concrete when it's possible.
The leak keeps running through your meter, and saturated clay can shift more than dry ground, which can affect the driveways, walkways and foundations above it. Everything gets explained in plain English, every option with its tradeoffs, your call throughout, and a licensed contractor performs the work when you give the go ahead.
