How to find a water leak under a concrete floor
If your water meter is spinning and you aren't using any water from the taps or tanks then you probably have a water leak. If your floors are concrete then that makes finding the leak doubly hard. You first need to track the pipes, then you need to find the leak. Pipe locators and acoustic listening devices are essential pieces of equipment for this.
Pipe Locators
At Paradigm Reinstatements we use the Sewerin Utilitrac pipe and cable locator which has the advantage of operating over several frequencies allowing for simultaneous tracing of two services in parallel and close proximity. This is a sophisticated high end pipe locator, ideal for finding pipes and leaks under concrete, floors, gardens, tarmac, patio's etc
Pipe Locators for plastic pipes
As plastic pipes are not electrically conductive the Utilitrac pipe locator as described above, won't work as it relies upon electromagnetic fields and plastic pipes don't conduct. Instead we use the Sewerin Combiphon which uses acoustics as the detection principle. A pipe knocking device is attached to the pipe which sends a 'heartbeat ' along the line, very sensitive acoustic listening equipment is then used to listen for highest sound which indicates the line of the pipe.
Correlators
Correlation is a way of pinpointing leaks in water pipes. A water leak from a pipe creates a noise that travels along the pipe. Using the Sewern SeCorrPhon correlator we are able to analyse the distance travelled using two highly sensitive microphones attached at different locations. The software can determine the time taken for the noise to travel and thereby calculate the exact location of the water leak.
Paradigm Can Help Find & Repair Your Leak
Paradigm Reinstatements is one of the leading specialists in leak detection. Not only can we help find and repair your leak, we can do so with minimum damage and at a reasonable price.
You can even post some pictures of your leak and describe what's wrong using our free quote service.
Here is a great example of how pipe locators and acoustic correlation helped to find a water leak under a concrete floor of a restaurant. The water meter was spinning even when the restaurant was closed, we were able to locate the pipe and then pin point the leak which meant the restaurant was not inconvenienced and didn't have to stop trading.
