Water leaks can cause a ton of damage to your home, but if they are deep within your plumbing system, they may not be easy to locate. Leaks that are not repaired promptly can be even more damaging to your home because the area where the water lies can leave stains and damage the walls and floors.
We will take a look at some of the best ways you can know when there is a leak in your home. We will also discuss different methods that professional plumbers, like our team at Smedley Service, will use to detect leaks in your plumbing system.
Ways You Can Detect Leaks in Your Home
When you see strains from water on your ceiling, there is obviously a leak in your plumbing system, but how do you know where it is coming from? When you’re trying to locate water leaks in your home, there are a few methods that will make the search easier for you.
Use Your Water Meter
The water meter in your home shows precisely how much water you are using in your household. Once you verify that all the faucets are off and no drips are coming from any of the sinks, you can check the level of the water meter. Make note of the level, and check it again in a few hours to see if the level fluctuates. If it does, there is probably a slow leak somewhere in the plumbing system.
Check Your Water Pressure
Water pressure is another way to check to see if there is a leak in your plumbing system. Turn off all the faucets completely, and if the water pressure is lower than expected, a leak could be present. This does not have to be a significant leak, but if there is a noticeable difference in the water pressure, then it is a leak that needs repair.
Listen for the Sound of Running Water
Water leaks are often heard before you see them, especially in a larger home. If you hear dripping water when all the water is off, then there is a small leak somewhere in your plumbing system. Sometimes, when you hear dripping water, it can be in another room or on another floor of your home.
Use Food Coloring
If you suspect a leak in your toilet, then try using food coloring to verify this suspicion. Simply add a few drops of food coloring into the tank, and if there is food coloring in the bowl after a few hours, there is a leak that is causing the coloring to move from one location to the other.
Examine Your Utility Bills
If you notice a sudden spike in the amount of water that you are using, you may have a leak. Give your utility bill a thorough examination to see precisely where increases are visible and determine how bad of a leak you are dealing with.
Technologies Plumbers Use to Detect Leaks
When it comes to leak detection, professional plumbers, like the members of our team at Smedley Service, always have the right tools for the job. Plumbers employ a wide array of high-tech techniques to find leaks just about anywhere in the system. This includes behind walls, under the soil, and under floors.
Plumbers also have the expertise to tackle the leak once it’s found. Here are just a few of the tools and technologies our team will use to find your leak.
Endoscopic Cameras for Pipe Inspection
While you may have heard of endoscopy in the medical field, It might come as a surprise that plumbers also use this technology to diagnose your pipes. Endoscopic leak detection uses a flexible camera and fiber optic cables to wind its way through your plumbing system. This makes it one of the go-to technologies to pinpoint the location of a leak without damaging the surrounding pipes.
The average endoscopy cable for plumbing applications is about 0.9 inches in diameter, which makes it an ideal tool for evaluating the interiors of most pipes. Since most of these fiber optic cables also range in length from 10 to 50 feet, they can easily tackle most plumbing systems. As the tube winds through your plumbing, the plumber will have a heads-up display that will allow them to visually inspect the entire inner structure of the pipe.
Acoustic Tools
Another high-tech tool is the acoustic leak detector. Leaking pipes make a unique sound that the detector can pick up by analyzing the sound frequencies. Some systems accomplish this using a sensitive microphone that the plumber pushes along the pipe system. Others use ultrasonic short-wave, high-frequency signals to detect the telltale hissing or gurgling that results from pipe leaks.
Once one of our plumbers has identified a leak, they will use their training to analyze the pitch and volume of the hissing sound to determine the precise location of the leak in the plumbing system.
Soil Probes
Soil probes have similar functionality to acoustic leak detectors. When one of our team of plumbers suspects a leak, they use a soil probe to listen for the sounds of running water. They probe deep into the soil using one of these devices, and with the finely tuned sensors, the plumber will be able to ascertain the depth of the leak in order to elicit repairs. These are powerful enough to detect leaks through rock.
Thermal Imaging
When you have a leak, no matter if the leaking water is hot or cold, temperatures will be significantly different than temperatures in the surrounding area. Thermal imaging equipment uses this temperature differential to detect and pinpoint a leak. Most plumbers will use thermal imaging cameras in a handheld format; they simply point the front toward a section of your home, and the imager will display areas that are too hot or too cold.
Moisture Meters
These types of leak detection use direct contact with the wall or floor during the test. One of our plumbers will place the device on a wall or floor, and the pins, which are electrodes, will measure the electrical resistance between the two points. When there’s less resistance, it’s an indicator of leaking water since water is conductive. Effectively, since electricity passes easily between the two probes, that means that there’s the presence of abnormal levels of moisture.
Contact Us for a Professional Level of Leak Detection
With so many leak detection methodologies in play, you may still wonder which is best. In the end, to properly pinpoint leaks, you may need multiple techniques and technologies. However, for the health of your system, it’s well worth the effort.
If you believe your plumbing system has a leak, contact Smedley Service for repairs. With over 77 years of experience, we provide the residents of Layton, UT with reliable plumbing service for all their needs. We offer drain cleaning, pipe installation and repair, leak detection, water heater service, and more.
Give us a call today to schedule an appointment.
