Water leaks can be costly and inconvenient and when undetected or unresolved can cause large water consumption charges, reduced water pressure, material damage and, if in a sensitive area, loss of business/production. A moderate leak (1 litre per second) on the mains would add approximately £55,000 on an annual bill.
Where the water shows is not always where the leak is. M & S Water Services highly trained leak detection staff use a range of equipment on request to prove where the leaks location is before we start our work.
As part of a site survey, the following things can be completed:
- All mains water supplies are mapped & zones established
- Flow rate & average daily usage is recorded
- Flow & pressure tests are conducted
- Sounding techniques are deployed with acoustic correlation and ground microphones to pinpoint the leaks location
During the leak detection procedures there should be no disruption to the water mains or site operations. In cases where what we are doing will effect you, M & S Water are committed to being as flexible as possible. We can work out of hours or at weekends.
Various techniques are employed to firstly narrow the search for the leak into a zone then pinpoint the leak, typically to less than half a metre. Some of the techniques employed are described below:
- leakage detection (open sounding, correlating, pipe tracing and ground microphones);
- flow and pressure logging, deployment, retrieval and analysis;
- pressure management design and installation;
- step testing and zero pressure testing including data logging;
- leakage controlled areas set-up and design;
- crisis management (pressure checking, logging and monitoring); and water balance analysis.
