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February 16, 2025
Technology Detect Drain Leaks
12
Nov
2019

Do you know how easy technology has made it to detect water leaks nowadays? What used to take a long time to locate can now be found a lot more quickly. Find out why and what technology we have today to detect leaks around your property.

A leaking drain pipe can cause a lot of problems; poor water pressure, rising water bills, and potential damp problems that will damage your property, which are all potential hazards from a water leak.

Finding Leaks and Fixing Them

The problem with leaks is figuring out where they are and how to fix them. If it isn’t obvious where a leak is coming from, you may not even know that you have one until you get a water bill that is much higher than normal.

Leaks in your home are the easiest to detect as you might be able to hear the hiss of water or smell a musty odour that suggests you have a small leak in a pipe between your walls. The big problems come when the leaks are in hard-to-detect places.

How Technology is Used in Leak Detection

If one of your underground pipes is leaking then finding the leak can be much harder.

Firstly, the leak detection specialist will have to determine whether there is actually a leak. This is done using a pressure test. The plumber will shut off the supply and measure the pressure at one end of the pipe.

Modern equipment is more sensitive than the pressure measurements that the average meter can give so this will tell you with more certainty whether you actually have a leak or not.

However, it won’t actually tell you where the leak is. For that, there are several options, including:

  • Acoustic leak detection
  • Pipe tracing with RF transmitters
  • Thermal imaging
  • Slab leak detection
  • Video inspections

Most modern leak detection methods work using similar principles. They rely on using sight or sound or acoustic detection to detect leaks. A skilled plumber may be able to find a large leak just by using their ears alone and tapping the pipes in various places.

Digital leak detection uses similar methods but with much more sensitive computer technology doing the detection work. RF transmitters can help to detect leaks in metal pipes, while thermal imaging and video inspections can help with plastic pipes or smaller pipes.

One of the latest technologies which are being used by major water boards is a ‘smartball’, which is a bowling ball-shaped device with an acoustic sensor in it.

The bowling ball is pushed through the pipe by the water pressure and records its readings as it goes. It can take up to 12 hours for the ball to travel through the pipe but this is a good way to get precise readings from hard to reach piping.

Running a cable through the pipe with a small camera is another option for detecting leaks in difficult-to-reach areas.

Get Leak Diagnostics For Your Home

If you think that you have a leak in your property it is important that you get it fixed as soon as possible. If you are looking for a trustworthy and reliable leak detecting service in Melbourne, then look no further than Austest Pipeline Solutions.

We offer high tech leak detection services for both homeowners and commercial properties. Our services could save you thousands of dollars by helping you to detect a difficult leak before it does further damage to your home.

We can locate and fix leaks in a timely manner, preventing damage to your home. We can find faults that other plumbers have missed using our camera inspection services. Send us an online enquiry or get in touch today by calling 1800 532 533 before the damage costs add up.