Leak Detection

Plumbing & Water Supply Leak Detection Methods

You may detect a leak in building supply piping either directly, by observing water or a wet spot that is traced to a leak in the supply piping system or indirectly by observing a noise (pump cycling for no reason, dripping sounds), smell (moldy wet materials), or even simply a slow loss of water pressure at a pressure tank when no water is being used.

Examples of supply piping leak detection methods are listed below, followed by a list of water supply system leak detection tools, equipment, devices.

• Intermittent water pump cycling:
  
  if your building water is supplied by a private pump and well system or by a municipal water supply system that also incorporates a water pressure booster pump, AND if that pump is observed to occasionally turn on when, as far as you know, no water is being used in the building, THEN a common cause of that is a slow water leak somewhere in the water supply system.
  
  The most-common causes of this symptom are a running toilet or a leaky check valve or foot valve.
• Leak noise detection: leaks can result in dripping sounds or the sound of water running in drain pipes when we think no water is being used in the building.
• A sophisticated leak detector that uses noise amplification is included

• If you hear the sound of running water in water supply piping and if you have turned off all plumbing fixtures that would normally use water, then there is probably a leak somewhere in the water piping system. That leak maybe inside or outside the building, as water flow noises are transmitted easily in metal and even some plastic water piping systems.
• Municipal or "city" water supply system piping leaks: between the public or community water main and the building may show up as a wet area or a muddy area in the soil near the home and along the pathway of the supply lateral pipe (water main to building), or even as wet areas in the building if the leak is outside but near the building foundation wall.
• Odor detection: even when there are no visible leaks, we may smell sewage or mold, both of which can point to plumbing leaks.
  
  If leaks wet common building materials such as drywall, plaster, insulation, wood framing, that condition invites mold growth. Some but not all molds, under varying conditions, produce MVOCs - a musty moldy odor that is unmistakable to most people.

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