Plumbing: How to detect a leak

There is nothing more annoying than the sound of a dripping tap, and these days, most of the water conscious is acutely aware that such a problem is also a huge waste of H20.

A common job for a plumber is to detect leaks and repair them, to ensure that water wastage is stopped in its tracks, and our efforts to be water wise are not impeded by plumbing problems. The important thing to remember is that if you suspect that a leak is major to turn the water system off immediately. The plumber will usually take over from there.

Find the leak source

The first thing to do if you are concerned your pipes or taps are leaking is to turn off the water supply and ensure that no water is supposed to be running in or out of the house. Tell your family or roommates to ensure they do not try to turn on any indoor taps or outdoor hoses.

Once this has been done locate your water meter and check to see if the dial is still moving - technically, if you have turned off the water supply the dial should not be moving, but if you have a leak it will still be ticking over.

If you wish, you can take a meter reading and then come back in an hour (without using any water or turning the supply back on during this time) and gauge how much water you are losing. You may have several smaller leaks that will add up to a rather large plumbing issue.

Is the leak inside or outside?

If you have safely determined there certainly is a leak, you now need to narrow down whether or not it is inside or outside of the house.

Take a quick scoot around to all indoor taps and outdoor hoses and taps while the water supply is still turned off. If the leaks are not so obvious it is possible they may be coming from the pipes and this can take much longer to detect.

Remember that toilets can leak gallons of water rather silently.
This is usually due to the "flapper" that is responsible for opening and closing the valve between the toilet and the pipe the waste flows into.
It is usually a rubber valve and when detecting a leak is one of the first places a plumber will check.

Leak: Signs to look for

Look out for "dirty" patches of stain on your ceiling or above tiled areas of wet rooms like the kitchen and bathroom.
These "dirty" patches can often indicate damp, which can mean you have a leak somewhere in the internal piping.

Unfortunately, if the leak has already been significant enough to cause damp, it will usually be much easier to find, but will have also done a lot more damage. As a general rule do not attempt to detect or fix any suspected plumbing problems in your home or office without the assistance of a qualified plumber.