Leak Detection

• Ticking Water Meters when water isn’t in use is a good sign that you might have a water leak.
• Having a uniquely stunning property can also mean it ca be difficult to detect water leaks. 
• On the property today, our skilled Perth plumber detects leaks with minimal damage to the property to keep things aesthetically stunning. 
• Pipes erode over time and sometimes fixing just one broken pipe might not do the trick. 
• We pride ourselves in being genuine maintenance plumbing specialists specialising in water leak detection & repairs.
• Check out more of our VLOGs & don’t forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

In today’s video, top dog Richard is on a beautifully architectured property in Victoria Park, Perth, Western Australia. The task in hand is to find and fix a potentially massive leak at the residential property. The plumbing on this property is all over the place making it a good challenge for our Plumbdog to find and fix the enormous leak.

Signs of a Water Leak

Noticing that the water meter was still ticking even when the water was not in use, the client sought professional help and gave us a whistle!
After testing the meter, Richard notes that the dial is spinning peculiarly fast, indicating a potential water loss of up to 20 liters per minute for this property.

All The Gear and Every Idea

Our vans are stocked with all the gear and Richard uses advanced water leak detection equipment to start the inspection on the property’s long driveway. After checking over a particular area to spot the leak, he can hear a significant amount of noise from below the deck. Rather than simply removing the whole deck or main parts of the deck to check for the water leak, he inspects through the small panels on the side first. This minimises any unnecessary damage to the aesthetics of the property.

Finding & Fixing the Leak

After lifting the small panel, he can spot the downstream flow of running water. After inspecting a little closely, he figures out the leak source, which is a broken fitting. Two water lines are running parallel to one another, and one of them has been broken due to a massive tree root. The tree root has broken one of the screw fittings, and the enormous pressure of water has further destroyed it by wearing it out and eroding its other parts. Seeing the extent of damage, it’s clear that the leak has been present over a substantial amount of time.

To fix this issue wholly itself, Richard will now replace the pipe’s destroyed fitting with a new one. One of the pipe fittings types that we like is auspex which he will use today. The old hepworth pipe fitting has now been replaced with the auspex to ensure that this situation does not occur again in the near future and the pipes function smoothly.

Inspection

After the repair work is completed Richard does another check of the meter reading. Unfortunately, he finds out that the meter is still ticking a little, thankfully not anywhere close to the last time. However, it indicates leak of several liters happening somewhere, which means another burst pipe somewhere else on the property. These situations call for the process to be repeated until the next problem area is identified.

In case you detect any possibility of a potential leak on your property, then do not wait for any further. Give us a whistle at the earliest to prevent damage of this magnitude, as it will not only burn a hole in your pocket but cause a lot of accidental water loss. Also don’t forget using a licensed plumber also means that they can help you with a leak loss report which is a report for the Water Corporation which confirms that the leak repair has been carried out by a licensed plumber. This allows you to send the report to the water corp to seek a deduction for lost water.

• Water Leak Detection
• Our Skilled Plumbdog Plumber Finds & Fixes a Water Leak
• Water leaks waste water & money and potentially cause damage to surrounding areas
• This water leak problem could have quite easily been avoided.

Water leaks waste so much water and money for home occupiers. There are various reasons why leaks occur from natural land movement to tree roots but on occasion leaking pipes are a result of work that has not been done properly to last.

The Video

Our experienced and skilled Richard from Plumbdog South Perth was called out to the job because of high water bills and the owners could hear water running around the house. Over the years, we have definitely become the experts in our field when it comes to water leak detection.

Pro Tip: Isolate the Hot Water Line

If you’ve been watching our videos, you’ll probably notice one of the first things to do is to isolate the hot waterline. Isolating the hot water line breaks it down for you to determine whether the problem exists on the hot water or cold water line. In this instance, it made it easy to determine that the water leak was on the hot water line. Even better, we get to use our specialised infrared equipment to help detect the leak.

How The Water Leak Could Have Been Avoided

As explained in the video, on a normal job it is important to keep the rubble away. We found rubble while digging up the sand surrounding the damaged pipe and to further add to the cause, the pipe was left directly exposed when being covered back up after a welding job. Why would you do that? If you’ve started a job, then don’t be lazy and finish it properly.

Fixing the Leaking Pipe Properly

Who would have known that plumbers would need to be skilled in digging, welding and all sorts of wonderful things? After welding the pipe properly, checking the welding and then testing that the problem has been fixed, rather than simply covering the hole back up leaving the pipe exposed, the pipe is properly wrapped up and then the hole is backfilled but with just the sand without the rubble which will stop the same problem from occurring again.

Benefit of Using Licensed Plumber

As you can see towards the end of the video, our licensed plumber has completed a leak loss report for the Water Corporation which confirms that the leak repair has been carried out by a licensed plumber. This allows the customer to send the report to the water corp to seek a deduction for lost water off their bill.

Not only does using a good licensed plumber mean getting the job done right, you could even get some money back.

Plumbdog Water Leak Detection Experts

We pride ourselves in top quality work with the ability to detect and fix water leak issues. Our vans are fully stocked with the latest equipment and our plumbers need to be highly qualified and skilled to be called a Plumbdog.

If you’re in Perth and surrounding areas and need someone local who specialises in leak detection, give us a whistle!

• Water leaks are often discovered when the expensive water bill arrives in the mail
• Some water leaks are obvious but some are hidden away quietly wasting water and money
• Checking whether you have a water leak is not hard and you can check for yourself whether you have a water leak.
• Follow these instructions to check whether you have a water leak
• If you do have a leak, suspect a leak or are still unsure then consult your local licensed plumber.

If you suspect that you have a water leak or simply want to start checking regularly whether you have a water leak, here is the best way to check and you don’t even need to be a plumber or handyman to complete this water leak detection test.

Instructions: How to Check If Your Property Has A Water Leak

Follow the following simple steps to work out if you have a water leak:

1. Turn off all taps and water using devices in your house
   Don’t forget about devices like your washing machine, water filters and even sprinkler systems outside.

2. Locate your Water Meter
   Most water meters are quite easy to find and you should be able see it quite easily having a quick look around the house but in case you need some help finding your meter, click here: https://mywater.com.au/css-web-external/pub/propertySearch

3. Check the Meter Reading
   More importantly, take a note of the last 3 digits of your water meter reading (usually red numbers)

4. Wait 5 Minutes
   You can wait a little bit longer to be completely sure but 5 minutes is sufficient.

5. Check the Meter Again
   Take note of the last 3 digits of your water meter reading again after waiting 5 minutes.

Did the 3 Digits Change?

If the digits changed, unfortunately you have a water leak somewhere. If all of your taps and water consuming devices are completely turned off then those digits will not change because water is not being used.

Water Corporation have a handy tool you can use to calculate how much water you are losing and also let you know the cost of wasted water. Click here https://www.watercorporation.com.au/faults/leak-detection-tool

Pro Tip – Slightly More Advanced Leak Test

If you know where you main isolation tap to your reticulation is a handy tip is to isolate your reticulation and repeat the test.

If you find that there is no longer movement of the 3 digits then the leak is on your reticulation somewhere.

Important Information & Useful Links

Did you know that ideally you should only test your reticulation system on your designated watering days?

Here is some handy information regarding testing: https://www.watercorporation.com.au/home/faqs/saving-water/can-i-test-my-irrigation-system

Not sure which are your watering days? Click here https://www.watercorporation.com.au/save-water/watering-days?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz7XAl_vr5AIVxBWPCh3WLAvQEAAYASABEgIIH_D_BwE

Did you know that Plumbdog are the leaders in locating and repairing water leaks in Perth?

Not only do we have a wealth of experience, and carry all of the latest equipment to find the trickiest of water leaks, but as we are licensed plumbers we can repair the leak too, and due to the fact that we drive huge service vehicles stocked to the roof with stock we can usually complete the whole job in one single visit, meaning less disruption to you and your busy schedule.

• We identified a leak losing 1.5 litres of water every minute
• We saved our customer time and money because we could get the job whole job done
• We achieved this because of our experience, training and having the best tools for the job
• This is what we do every day

Today wasn’t really any different to any other day for me, but I did save my Seville Grove (between Canning Vale and Armadale) customer time, money and inconvenience which always makes our job worthwhile.

I was called out to fix a leaking gas hot water system which I completed fairly quickly and easily but when I was commissioning and testing the repair I noticed a running water sound coming from the hot water unit, this usually means trouble in our line of work so performed a water leak detection test on the property water meter and found that 1.5 litres of water was being lost every minute and I needed to get to the root cause of the problem quickly.

In normal circumstances with a regular plumber, he would usually recommend calling out a leak detection specialist and then call in another plumber to fix the leak, costing time, inconvenience and money. But I was like a dog with a bone, I wouldn’t let go of this problem and cause my valued customer further inconvenience so explained the issue to the customer, gave them a super quick price and they agreed to let me repair it right away. Myself and the rest of the team at Plumbdog pride ourselves on our multidisciplinary skillset and our ability to go above and beyond what is usually on offer from other Perth plumbing companies.

What I did – The Process

I know that no one likes reading big blocks of text, so I’ll take you through what I did today regarding the leak in an easy to digest format:

1. Isolated the cold water inlet for the new hot water system and retested the water meter that was no longer turning. Confirmation that leak was on the hot water line
2. Walked around the property with our Flir E5 Infra-Red Camera – nothing initially detected
3. Turned the valve to the hot water system back on again, allowing the hot water to flow through the pipes and out of the tap as well as the leaking pipe which heated the ground around the area allowing me to detect the exact location of the leak with the infrared camera
4. Proceeded to excavate the sand, found multiple pipes with one pipe spraying hot water from a corroded part. I also noticed a number of DIY attempts at pipe repair which weren’t adequate for this setting
5. Exposed the leaking pipe and replaced the damaged section with new 15mm copper wipe welding each end
6. Back to the water meter for another test – confirmed all leaks fixed
7. Backfilled the area with sand, cleaned up and then completed a Water Corp loss report for the client to receive an adjusted bill in the next cycle

Check out our quick video on the job
Have you seen an infrared camera in action?

So, there you have you have it, a day in the life of Rich the Plumbdog Perth Plumber. Came as a gas fitter to install a hot water system and left having carried out tasks associated with water leak detection specialists, plumbers and gas fitters! How’s that for versatility?

If you are need of any plumbing services, gas plumbing, drainage work or leak detection just give the team at Plumbdog a howl on 1300 884 146 and find out for yourself why we are constantly voted best of breed when it comes to plumbers in Perth.