Nathan Davis
Member
I’m totally stumped with a plumbing problem.
Where my main water line enters my basement, it splits into two lines, line A and line B. Line A feeds water to all the internal house fixtures (initially going through the whole house filter and the water softener), and line B supposedly feeds unfiltered and hard water to all the exterior spigots.
Yesterday, I shut off the water to Line A to replace the whole house filter on Line A. With Line A shut off, I suddenly heard a toilet cycling on. So I checked it and all the other house fixtures, and lo-and-behold I found that water was still feeding to all the house fixtures. So apparently Line B is somehow back-feeding the house fixtures and bypassing the house filter and water softener. For some time now, it appears that hard, unfiltered water has been flowing throughout the house.
So, I proceeded to shut off Line B, in addition to Line A. That immediately shut off the exterior spigots, and also all the interior house fixtures. Yet, when I turned Line A on, with Line B in the off position, all the interior fixtures received water but all the exterior fixtures were turned off-- just like expected. My paradox is that when I turn line B on, everything gets water, including all the interior fixtures and the exterior spigots. So it appears that the back-feeding occurs in only one direction, with Line B turned on and Line A off. However, back-feeding fails to happen with Line A on and Line B off.
I spent 6 hours today tracing the plumbing lines to try to see where they might be crossed, but to no avail. At this point in time, I have turned off Line B (the exterior spigots) and turned on Line A (the interior fixtures). At least this will ensure that all the interior fixtures are fed through the water filter and water softener. But with Spring just around the corner, I know that I’ll eventually want to turn the exterior spigots on, and I don’t want the hard, unfiltered water to flow throughout the house.
Any ideas how this can happen?
Where my main water line enters my basement, it splits into two lines, line A and line B. Line A feeds water to all the internal house fixtures (initially going through the whole house filter and the water softener), and line B supposedly feeds unfiltered and hard water to all the exterior spigots.
Yesterday, I shut off the water to Line A to replace the whole house filter on Line A. With Line A shut off, I suddenly heard a toilet cycling on. So I checked it and all the other house fixtures, and lo-and-behold I found that water was still feeding to all the house fixtures. So apparently Line B is somehow back-feeding the house fixtures and bypassing the house filter and water softener. For some time now, it appears that hard, unfiltered water has been flowing throughout the house.
So, I proceeded to shut off Line B, in addition to Line A. That immediately shut off the exterior spigots, and also all the interior house fixtures. Yet, when I turned Line A on, with Line B in the off position, all the interior fixtures received water but all the exterior fixtures were turned off-- just like expected. My paradox is that when I turn line B on, everything gets water, including all the interior fixtures and the exterior spigots. So it appears that the back-feeding occurs in only one direction, with Line B turned on and Line A off. However, back-feeding fails to happen with Line A on and Line B off.
I spent 6 hours today tracing the plumbing lines to try to see where they might be crossed, but to no avail. At this point in time, I have turned off Line B (the exterior spigots) and turned on Line A (the interior fixtures). At least this will ensure that all the interior fixtures are fed through the water filter and water softener. But with Spring just around the corner, I know that I’ll eventually want to turn the exterior spigots on, and I don’t want the hard, unfiltered water to flow throughout the house.
Any ideas how this can happen?
