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 Leaks are one of the most common reasons for high water bills
• You can identify whether you have a potential leak, we’ll show you how
• Check out more of our VLOGs here!

Water leakage is one of the most common reasons behind your high water bills and if the leak is left undetected for a long time, it can dig an unwanted hole in your pocket.

In this video, our Plumbdog Richard shares some simple tips and tricks to discover unknown leaks on your property and reduce the unnecessary wastage of money. He also explains possible ways which you can detect the problem by yourself.

1. Find You Water Meter
   The first step is to spot the water meter. Before seeking assistance from a professional, you can try to locate the meter yourself, as it is usually placed in the garden towards the boundary, close to the street.
   If you are unable to figure the position, then the chances are that it might be buried under overgrown garden land. Such a situation demands an expert’s guidance, for which you can click the link we have mentioned in our blog.
2. Turn Off Water Using Devices
   The next course of action is to turn off all the devices that involve direct water use. Check for usual items like washing machines, water purifiers and filter systems, taps and adaptive aircons.
3. Test With The Water Meter
   Now finally, we test the leakage through our water meter. Now we need to observe the movement of our dial for over 5 minutes. If there is no movement then you can be comfortable knowing that there isn’t a leak. A movement in the reading is an indication of a possible leak.

What to do if you notice a movement?

In such a case, the ideal thing to do to give us a whistle and book yourself a professional plumber. If you want to try and detect the leak yourself first, then a good place to start looking is usually around the water meter itself.

If you are able to identify the water leak it will help save some time and money and you can call us to fix up the problem. Of course if you are unable to detect the leak yourself, our team of trained and experienced Plumbdogs will sniff out the problem for you.

Our Services

If you are facing any plumbing issues at your home or office, give us a whistle! We pride ourselves in being the experts that our customers and colleagues in the industry turn to for maintenance plumbing services that also provide value for your money. Our team of highly professional Plumbdogs hold years of experience in solving all kinds of plumbing related issues like fixing broken or twisted pipes, unblocking drains, leak detection, and hot water system installations, maintenance and repairs. Not only are we skilled and experienced, we have all the gear and every idea to be at your service.

• Join our professional plumber on the job and learn how you could identify a water leak at your property.
• You might have a water leak at your home and not even know it.
• Leaking pipes waste our valuable water resources
• Water leaks cost you money!

Whether you are a homeowner, landlord or tenant, a water leak will affect you in many ways with the most obvious being a waste of water which also results in a waste of your hard-earned money.

Signs of a Water Leak

There are some usual signs of a water bill. In some instances the leak is big enough that you can hear it whether it’s coming from outside of the house or from inside the walls. In some circumstances, the symptoms might be a little bit more subtle. For instance, many people discover a water leak when the paint on the wall (often near the bathroom) starts peeling or mold starts growing.

In the video, we were called out because it became noticeable on the water bill when the owners noticed the bills were simply getting more and more expensive with very normal water usage. That’s when we were called in for our specialities in water leak detection.

Some Pro Tips from the Video

Isolating hot water from cold water can help you determine where the problem lies. If the problem lies in the hot water line, you can simply cut off hot water in the meantime and still have water running in the house.

While specialised leak detection equipment is very handy to have, in this particular scenario, you our experienced plumber was able to detect the leak without having to rely on electronic water leak detection gear.

Important Tips

In the event that you are able to identify the water leak, make sure to be careful when either trying to reach the problem area.

If you are trying to fix the problem, be careful not to cause damage to other unaffected areas. An incorrect bend or pull on the pipes may cause a domino effect to other areas which would otherwise be in perfect condition.

If you do not consider yourself a home handy person and are not comfortable with tools then please call a professional to handle the job. Getting the job done right the first time saves from future potential problems whether from attempting to repair or not repairing correctly.

A professional and licensed plumber is also insured for the job. In the unlikely event of personal or property damage, the professional plumber is insured saving you unnecessary expenses. It’s bad enough if your property was to get damaged, imagine if you injured yourself trying to fix a pipe and had to spend time recovering and rehabilitating.

“It’s time to do what a plumber does best. Start Digging!”

We hope you enjoyed the video. Not only does it give some great pointers on how to detect a water leak, it also gives an insight into a day in the life of one of our plumbdogs!.

Don’t forget if you are not sure, leave it to a trusted professional plumber. It will definitely save you the time and effort as well as any potential damage to your home. It would be even worse if you injured yourself in the process.

• Our professional Plumbdog Plumber on the job shares with us a day in the life of a leak detection and repair job.
• Water leaks cost households bucket-loads of money every year
• Darius makes this job look so easy where others couldn’t find the leak
• In some cases it is easy to know that you have a water leak. There may be a leaking sound or you may find water where there shouldn’t be. For some of our unfortunate customers, they usually suspect a water leak after the event when the water bill comes and looks somewhat excessive. With our years of plumbing experience, we’ve seen it all.

Darius is one of our main plumbers and has a great reputation in the area. He’s also a little bit modest. At the beginning of the video he mentions that it wasn’t too hard to find the leak but did you catch that he also said that others were called out before him who couldn’t find the leak? He’s definitely one of our goto guys and you’ll see so many great reviews saying what a great job he’s done so who best to take us on a ride along on a job.

Specialised Leak Detection Equipment

Not only is Darius extremely skilled and great at his job, the use of electronic water leak detection equipment together with his years of experience means that he was able to detect the problem area quickly saving time and money.

Fixing the Leak Properly

Not only do we find the leak, we also fix it all in one visit. Would you believe there are others that might provide a leak detection service but do not offer and do not have the ability to fix the leak? We’ve also seen advertisements claiming to be specialists where they either simply do not have the equipment or subcontract out the work. Imagine having to call out two separate specialists to finish the job. It’ll just waste time and money. In the video, Darius describes what he does so that the problem is fixed now just for the short term but so that this shouldn’t cause a problem again in the long run.

Benefits of Leak Detection Specialists

There are some instances where the leak is obvious and you don’t even need to be a plumber to know where the problem is. Like any profession, there are specialists in the field for different jobs in the industry. A general plumber may be great for general plumbing. When it comes to leak detection, if they are able to detect the leak, are they able to fix it properly to last? Or will it be a simple bandaid or patch job where the problem will continue over and over again?

Using a specialist could save you money in the long run. Firstly, you won’t need to call out multiple plumbers which multiple callouts could mean money down the drain (excuse the pun). Especially when they can’t find the problem. Then when the problem is found, you also want to make sure the problem is fixed properly to last. It would be such a waste if you had to call someone in to fix the problem again in the near future.

If you’re in the Perth area and suspect a water leak, you can do a simple check at the mains which you would know to from watching our videos. If you have identified a water leak or just aren’t sure, give us a whistle!