Find your water meter and the shutoff valve near it, usually outside your home. Turn the handle clockwise until it stops. If the leak stops after you do this, the burst is on the supply side between the meter and your fixtures.
Check under sinks, around toilets, in the crawlspace or basement, and along exterior walls. Soft drywall, water stains on framing, or pooling water show you where the leak is. Take a photo if you can.
Write down the number on your meter right now. Wait two hours without using any water. If the number changes, you have an active leak somewhere in the home.
Water moves through your pipes under pressure, and when a pipe fails, it floods fast. In Salinas homes, especially older ones with galvanized steel or outdated copper runs, corrosion eats through from the inside out over decades. The clay soil common in much of the area can also shift and settle under houses, putting stress on rigid supply lines. A burst doesn't always spray visibly. Most leaks start small: a pinhole weep that darkens drywall, a seam that separates, a joint that drips slowly into the crawlspace.
By the time you notice water on a wall or a soft spot in the floor, the pipe has likely been leaking for days or weeks. The damage spreads into wood framing, insulation, and subflooring where you can't see it. Mold grows fast in damp spaces. The longer it sits, the more expensive the fix becomes: you're not just replacing a pipe, you're cutting out and replacing damaged structure.
A plumber will locate the burst using water meter data, visual inspection, and sometimes a camera to see inside the line. If it's under a slab or behind a wall, that's when detection equipment becomes necessary. Once found, the repair depends on the pipe's location and material. Some jobs take an hour. Others need the wall or concrete opened up.
Describe what you're seeing to a real Salinas plumber: call (831) 555-0123 or send the form. Free, no obligation.