As a homeowner, business owner, or property manager managing different property portfolios, it will be important to keep your premises safe against any form of water damage. The most common water damage sources include burst water pipes and leaking pipes. Usually, we don’t see damage on our pipes until it is already too late. To avoid serious damage that faulty pipes cause, it will be important to consider installing water leak systems that can detect issues before disaster hits. With a solid detection system, like an acoustic water leak detector, you can get an alert to even small leaks, enabling you to quickly resolve them.
Understanding the Impacts of a Water Leak on Properties
A water leak can pose a great threat to your properties, mainly affecting industrial facilities, commercial businesses, and residential homes. A few factors contribute to water leaks, including common mistakes of ignoring small leaks until they turn into serious problems, unrepaired pipe damage, deteriorating plumbing/water pipes, and aging infrastructure. By using water leak detectors, you can prevent most of these issues.
How Water Leak Detectors Often Work
Generally, these detectors work by observing the flow of water in the property and detecting unusual patterns, which signify leaks. How a water leak detector works will differ based on certain models. For instance, some work by using electronic signals or ultrasonic wavelengths, whereas others use mechanical turbines or similar devices to count gallons while they flow through plumbing systems. Other systems concentrate on moisture. Here are examples of detection methods you can use to identify water leaks:
- Acoustic leak detection – The method entails using very sensitive equipment to pick up sounds, which travel through the pipework. Water that escapes at a high pressure often creates vibration and noise, which a technician can help you to detect. Acoustic leak detection can be helpful in finding leaks in hard-to-reach or hidden areas where visual inspections are impossible.
- Inspection through video camera pipes – You can use a video camera to detect sewer problems and in-line drain issues. Usually, this involves using infrared cameras in a line at existing cleanouts, roof vents, or toilet drains. It helps to identify obstructions, deteriorated pipes, or exact locations of breaks. By using this method, you can also identify small issues so that an expert can correct them before they escalate into more serious problems.
- Thermal imaging detection – This technique uses thermal cameras that help to detect changes in temperature. Normally, this change of temperature indicates the presence of leaks. By simply comparing different temperature charts, an expert will accurately determine the exact location of the problem, including the floors and walls.
- Hydrostatic pressure tests – This test is done on the structures of sanitary sewer systems. It helps to detect any water leak, which exists in underground plumbing systems. The test often involves putting an inflatable test ball in the structure of the main line sewer cleanout. Before plumbing systems are filled up with water to the slab level, the structure gets inflated to obstruct the main sewer lines. Technicians observe the water for around 20 minutes. If the system doesn’t reach the slab level, it means there is a water leak.
Why Detect Water Leak?
Huge loss and damage happen most of the time when a water leak goes undetected for a longer period of time. It is true what they say – a very small leak is enough to sink a large ship. The same can happen to our invaluable assets and equipment when small unnoticed leaks go unnoticed. Apart from encouraging unwanted organic growth, water leaks may damage important equipment in your business or home. Without the right water leak detectors, you may discover problems when it is already too late. This is why it is important to detect water leaks early for the following reasons:
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Mitigate Health Risks
Undetected or untreated water leaks may create a very conducive environment for mold to grow. This may cause injuries to people with respiratory issues, like asthma, and being exposed to mold for a long time might be a very serious health risk for everyone. Chronic fatigue, lung irritation, nausea, rashes, respiratory infections, and nasal infections are symptoms that people living in homes with mold experience.
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Prevent Structural Damage
Apart from mitigating health risks, detecting water leaks early helps to prevent structural damage to the surrounding structures and walls. A significant leak on the walls or in the floors may deteriorate materials, which make up our properties, requiring expensive replacements or updates. If this happens, your property won’t be safe to stay or live in until you address the leak. Moreover, a leak outside your home may cause serious damage to the adjacent structures. If the leak develops near the homes of other people, it may compromise the structure’s foundation, too.
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Avoid Expensive Repairs
The costs of repairing leaks differ depending on a few factors, including the plumbing leak’s severity, the affected area accessibility, specific requirements of plumbing, and the type of plumbing leaks. A minor leak, which can easily be fixed, including a small pipe leak or dripping faucet, can incur lower costs of repair. But more severe leaks, like burst pipes, plumbing system/internal central heating leaks, and water damage requiring significant restoration/repairs, can be costly. It is advisable to seek the help of a professional plumber to assess the leak and give you the exact cost estimate depending on the needed repairs.
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Save Time
It isn’t easy to detect the presence of moisture or water. A good example is flooding under raised floorings that you can’t see. Leaks or condensation are only discovered when a water patch is seen. Accumulation of water may come from seepages from an adjacent wall or leaky pipes. By using the right solutions, you can avoid trial-and-error methods of breaking through your walls so you can search for water leaks.
The bottom line is that it is important to use the right methods, such as acoustic leak detection, video camera inspection, hydrostatic pressure tests, and thermal imaging detection to detect water leaks. This way, you will save time, prevent expensive restoration/repairs, avoid structural damage, and minimize health risks.
