The line between the meter and you.
Every drop in your house arrives through one buried service line — and in Hampton Roads plenty of them are galvanized steel or old polybutylene running on borrowed time. We locate leaks, repair breaks, and replace failing lines with as little digging as the job allows.
4.92,400+ Google reviews
Licensed · Bonded · Insured
Family-owned since 1968
Free Estimates On Large Jobs
Upfront quotes before any work begins. Compare with confidence.
Satisfaction Guaranteed Since 1968
Your first call for Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Norfolk plumbing needs.
Financing Available
our first call for Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Norfolk plumbing needs.
Locate, repair, replace
Water Line Service: What Every Homeowner Should Know
Your service line runs from the city meter at the curb to the shutoff inside your home, and in most Hampton Roads jurisdictions that whole stretch is yours to maintain. Here's the work we do on it every day.
Leak detection
Acoustic listening gear and pressure testing find a buried leak to within a few feet — so the repair is a small hole, not a trench across your lawn.
Request service
Service line repair
A single break, a bad fitting, or a section damaged by a landscaper. We expose it, repair it properly, and restore the ground behind us.
Request service
Full line replacement
When a line has failed repeatedly or the material is at end of life, patching is throwing money away. New PEX or copper from the meter to the house.
Request service
Pressure & valve work
Pressure-reducing valves, corroded main shutoffs, and hose bibs. If you can't shut your own water off quickly, that's the first thing to fix.
Request serviceScroll to explore our services
How They Work
What's buried in your yard?
The material tells you most of what you need to know about the risk. Galvanized steel, common in homes built before the 1960s, rusts from the inside until pressure drops to a trickle.
Polybutylene — the grey plastic installed widely from the late 1970s into the mid-90s — becomes brittle and splits without much warning. Copper lasts decades but pinholes as it ages in acidic soil.
We replace with PEX or copper depending on the run and your preference, and we'll tell you which one we'd put in our own yard.
Ask a Plumber
Water bill jumped?
Ask a real plumber.
Tell us what the bill did, what the pressure feels like, and whether anything's wet outside. A master plumber will tell you whether you're looking at a leak, a valve, or the city's side of the meter. No bots, no upsell.
Here's a quick check: shut off every fixture, then watch the meter dial. If it's still creeping, you have a leak somewhere on your side.
Bill doubled and there's a soggy patch by the driveway. Bad sign?
155+
years combined experience
14
Fully stocked service trucks
24/7
Emergency Dispatch
The Signs
How To Tell Your Water Line Is Failing
A buried line rarely bursts without warning. It leaks quietly for months first — on your bill, in your pressure, and eventually in your yard.
Shut off the main and call us
- Water bubbling up through the lawn, driveway, or sidewalk
- A sudden, dramatic drop in pressure throughout the house
- Water sounds running with every fixture shut off
- Wet or sagging ground along the run from meter to house
- No water at all after a freeze or nearby excavation
Worth a look, not an emergency
- A water bill climbing with no change in household usage
- Pressure that's slowly gotten worse over a few years
- Rusty or discolored water at first draw in the morning
- Grey polybutylene or galvanized pipe at the meter or shutoff
- A main shutoff valve that's seized or drips when turned
- A main shutoff valve that's seized or drips when turned
The five-minute meter test
Turn off every fixture and appliance that uses water, then find your meter at the curb and watch the low-flow indicator — the small triangle or dial. If it's moving with nothing running, water is going somewhere it shouldn't. Note the reading, wait 30 minutes, and check again. That one test tells us a great deal before we even arrive.
From the Blog
Gas Leak Safety: What To Do Before We Arrive
The four minutes after you smell gas matter more than anything else.
Watch: 30 seconds with Atomic
Meet the crew who'll show up at your door.
A quick look at how we work, why families across Hampton Roads keep calling us back, and what to expect when the blue truck pulls up.
Pipe materials
What we find under Hampton Roads yards.
The age of the house usually tells you the material — and the material tells you how much time you have:
Galvanized steel (Pre-1960s)
Rusts from the inside out. Pressure drops gradually as the interior diameter closes up, and the water often runs discolored at first draw.
Polybutylene (1978-1995)
Grey plastic, usually with copper or plastic crimp fittings. Degrades from chlorine in the water and splits with little warning. We recommend replacement.
Copper (1960s-Today)
Long-lasting and still a good choice, but develops pinhole leaks with age, aggressive soil, or water chemistry. Repairable in most cases.
Pex (2000s-Today)
Flexible, freeze-tolerant, and fewer joints underground because it comes off a roll. Our usual recommendation for a replacement run.
HDPE (1980s-Today)
Heat-fused polyethylene, common on longer runs and ideal where trenchless pulling is possible. Extremely durable once installed.
CPVC (1970s-Today)
More common inside the house than buried. Rigid and reliable, but brittle with age and vulnerable to impact from shifting soil.
Teacher & military discounts available · Financing for jobs over $1,000
Water Line Brands We Install & Service
Uponor
SharkBite
Viega
Watts
Your neighbors trust us
Always a friendly face at your door.
Family owned and family operated, we're proud to be recognized as the best plumbing company in Virginia Beach.
“Bill went from ninety dollars to three hundred with nothing changed. They found a pinhole leak twelve feet from the meter and fixed it in one morning.”
“We had the original polybutylene from 1983. They ran new PEX from the meter to the house and the yard barely looks touched.”
“Pressure had been terrible for years and two plumbers told me it was just the city. Atomic found the galvanized line was almost closed up. Night and day now.”
Recognized across Hampton Roads
Join 2,400+ neighbors who trust Atomic
Same-day service across Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Chesapeake.
Your neighbors trust us
When you see the blue truck,
help has arrived.
Every Atomic truck is a fully stocked workshop on wheels - radio-dispatched, GPS-tracked, and driven by a licensed master plumber. Most repairs finish in a single visit.
Commonly Asked Questions
Water line questions, answered.
Who owns the line — me or the city?
In most Hampton Roads jurisdictions the water authority owns the main and the meter, and the homeowner owns everything from the meter to the house. That means a leak on the house side is your repair. We'll identify which side of the meter the problem is on before any work starts, and if it's the city's, we'll tell you to call them.
How do I know if I have a leak?
Shut off every fixture and appliance that uses water, then watch the low-flow indicator on your meter — the small triangle or dial. If it's moving, water is escaping somewhere. Note the reading, wait 30 minutes with nothing running, and check it again.
Do you have to dig up my whole yard?
Usually not. We locate the leak electronically first, so a repair typically means one small excavation rather than a trench. On full replacements we can often pull new line along the existing path with entry and exit pits instead of open-trenching the run.
Should I replace polybutylene even if it isn't leaking?
We'd recommend planning for it. Polybutylene degrades internally from chlorine in the water supply and tends to fail without warning — and a failure is a flooded yard or crawlspace rather than a slow drip. Replacing on your schedule costs less than replacing during an emergency.
PEX or copper for a new line?
Both are good. PEX comes off a roll, so a buried run has far fewer joints, it tolerates freezing better, and it costs less. Copper is rigid, proven over decades, and some homeowners simply prefer it. We'll quote both and tell you which we'd choose for your specific run.
How long does a replacement take?
Most residential service line replacements are a single day, with water restored the same afternoon. Long runs, driveways to cross, or difficult access can extend it. We'll give you a realistic window and tell you how long you'll be without water.
Still have a question?
Talk to a real plumber, not a bot. We usually reply within an hour.
All Services
More plumbing
Water Heaters
Gas, electric, and tankless installation, repair, and replacement across Hampton Roads.
Drain Cleaning & Maintenance
Kitchen, toilet, and shower drains cleared fast, plus preventative maintenance that stops clogs before they start.
Pipe Cleaning & Repairs
Aging pipes, leaks, corrosion, and repiping. Don't wait for a burst line to find out what's behind the wall.
Request an Appointment
Let's get your pressure back.
Tell us what's going on and when you'd prefer us to arrive. We'll confirm your appointment by phone or email within one business hour.
- ✓Clear communicationWe text 30 minutes out - with a photo of your technician.
- ✓Transparent pricingUpfront quotes before any work begins. Never a hidden fee.
- ✓Clean & respectfulShoe covers on, tools tidy, wrapped up before we leave.