detecting water leak in house

Rhino666

Unfortunately my new house has a water leak - losing around 7 litres an hour. I have done a few checks to prove that the problem is beyond the stopc*ck and has to be downstairs somewhere. The flooring is a combination of concrete and tongue and groove floor board so not easy to get to pipework to check out visually.

Can anyone suggest a method of checking for this leak? A friend has offered me a stethoscope to listen to the accessible parts of the pipes for water movement. Is there any other kit I could buy/hire to pinpoint the leak.

Thanks

deanos

A listening stick is what the water company's use for leaks

http://www.hydrohire.com/acatalog/leak-detection.html

BackOnTrack

I'd take a look at your toilets first. A spot of food colouring in the cistern can help with this.

Rhino666

Thanks for the replies. The stethoscope with listening tube unfortunately does not appear to work, so I may end up buying/hiring off that website. Has anyone successfully found a similar leak with any of these devices.

All the loos in the property have overflow pipes and I have checked the central heating tank as well. I have also checked flow through the sewer - there is none.

All points to a leak on the dowstairs mains pressure pipe. Easy to write down :-)

deanos

I personally haven't found leaks with them but i know the leakage people use them on the meter chambers/stop taps to listen for leaks, how they exactly use them to pinpoint the leak im not sure.

mart.vader

Rhino666 wrote: »

Unfortunately my new house has a water leak - losing around 7 litres an hour. I have done a few checks to prove that the problem is beyond the stopc*ck and has to be downstairs somewhere. The flooring is a combination of concrete and tongue and groove floor board so not easy to get to pipework to check out visually.

Can anyone suggest a method of checking for this leak? A friend has offered me a stethoscope to listen to the accessible parts of the pipes for water movement. Is there any other kit I could buy/hire to pinpoint the leak.

Thanks

Hi,

If you're sure the leak is beyond the stopc*ck and under your concrete / wood flooring, and if its a fairly substantial leak, you can listen for it, using a stick. The Water Co's have used these for centuries.

Just get a length of metal such as a metal stair rod and put one end of the stick against a metal pipe and the other against your ear, (stick your finger in your other ear!) while running a kitchen or outside tap, to get your ear "tuned" into what you're hearing, listen for the difference in sound with the tap running and not running.

I wouldn't bother with hiring an electronic version.

If you see a water company van parked anywhere around, ask the guy to show you, If you offer him £10, he might just do it for you.

Has anyone banged any nails through the flooring? Is any of the flooring damp? If so, that is an obvious place to suspect. If your're in a new house, probably you have plastic pipes, unfortunately, plastic tends to muffle the sound. The pipes "should" run through plastic conduit in the concrete floor, which may be containing the leak, and allowing it to run away elsewhere.

If none of this works, you're down to pulling up the flooring yourself or getting a decent plumber.

Good Luck

elenagilbert12

7 litres an hour is too much water to lose. In such situation you should take help of some Water Leak Detection services instead of trying to find the leak on your own.