How Do Plumbers Detect Hidden Leaks?

Plumbing systems in most homes are fairly complex, with twisting mazes of pipe work routed around the property. This is what can make it incredibly difficult to locate a leak. Leaks are fairly obvious when they are coming from exposed pipe work and spitting water all over your house, but they can be incredibly difficult to find when the pipe in question is buried deep within the walls or the floor.

“This is even more problematic when you consider how insidious hidden leaks can be. They have the potential to damage the structural integrity of the building by degrading masonry and crumbling plasterwork, not to mention promoting the growth of harmful mould.” Matt Wells states, a plumbing expert from Hills Emergency Plumber.

In the past, plumbers had to make an educated guess about the location of leaking pipes in the property. They were often forced to drill through the walls in many different locations before they could find it. Fortunately there are now many technological innovations in this area that can help us precisely pinpoint exactly where a leak is, meaning we can swiftly locate it and fix it before it has the chance to cause any significant damage to the structure of the home.

Most of the time we use a system called a sonic detector. This works by using an extremely precise microphone that picks up tiny sounds and accurately determines the exact location of the source of the noise. This works on the principle that even the tiniest leaks will make some kind of noise. Of course, the smaller the leak, the smaller the noise, so sonic detectors need to be extremely accurate and precisely calibrated in order to be useful. Here at Plumbing on Tap we believe we have the very best sonic detectors of any plumbers in Brighton.

We also use another method, known as “hydrostatic testing”. This sounds like an incredibly complex system, but in reality it’s fairly simple. We’ll place an inflatable ball inside the pipe, and then fully inflate it in order to stop up the pipe. Then we’ll fill the system with water completely. Any pipe that can’t be completely filled must be losing water, and that means we’ll have accurately determined the source of the leak. We usually use this system when the leak is suspected to be incredibly deep underground, where even our high tech sonic detectors aren’t sensitive enough to detect the sound of the leak.

We also have a third method at our disposal, which again is usually utilised in diagnosing leaks that are deep underground or otherwise in a troublesome area. We’ll use a tiny video camera to explore the inside of the pipe, feeding it through the system. This camera will also be fitted with an extremely tiny but very powerful light source, illuminating the area around the camera so that we can easily inspect the inside of the pipe. 247 Drainage states “This is also a great system for quickly detecting the source of blocked pipes, or generally identifying troublesome problems with plumbing systems.” If there is some kind of reoccurring problem to your plumbing, whether it’s a leak or a blockage, we’ll usually employ this system to find out the cause of the problem and how we can fix it.

Once we’ve found the location of the leak, no matter which system we have used to locate it, we’ll have a chat with you about your options from there. Using all of this incredible technology sounds like it would be expensive, but actually it could save you a lot of money. Our investment in the latest technology means we can serve our customers faster, averting damage to their property and saving them money on labour costs.

No matter how we detect your leak, and no matter what needs to be done to fix it, we’re committed to resolving the situation at the minimum possible cost to the customer. Our Brighton plumbing experts have many years experience in this area, so if you suspect a leaking pipe in your property then get in touch with us today.

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