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Our District Scout Camp has a leak somewhere in its water feed that is costing £100 a month.
The obvious damp area in the field was dug up and an isolation valve fitted, but the water is still escaping somewhere between the recent excavation and the point where it joins the main, 700 metres away. Short of digging all of it up is there a way of finding it?
Pipe is 35mm bore (ish) and was put down by the campsite many years ago.
Plant (more) leeks all along the route of the pipe, see which grow the best.
Edit: Bah, you fixed it 😜
I had the water board out to find and fix a leak, they have some hi tech specialist equipment - started with a listening stick (long stick pressed to ground and connected to ear) and when that didn’t work the divining rods came out.
Try a listening stick like the water inspectors use?
Probably most likely to leak wherever it branches, so prioritise those areas for digging
Old fashioned way: Dig half way from new isolation valve and near main, and see which side leak is and keep reducing area OR New technology: see if you can find a water leak detector engineer, they still need to dig to a degree, But may be able to use tracer gas IF you know the route of the pipe. Basically gas goes into water, runs along pipe and comes out near leak, gas detection gear can sniff out where the leak is, or something like that.
Note the leak could be a very small split in the pipe or joint. Good luck.
Though legally a leak on your property is your issue to solve, water board will do leak repair free of charge where they can, google your water authority and leakage responsibility
We have used a leak detector a few times here on our 350m driveway. He fits a valve and pressurises the pipe and then uses a stethoscope to find the hiss. He can get within a few cm of a leak that is 700mm deep under the drive but is so well drained it leaves no upward sign of moisture. It only works for 100m sections though so if it goes beyond that range you need to dig it up and fit another valve.
Move the meter closer to the scout hut 😀
Yeah as above you can use specialist equipment to detect roughly where the leak is so you know where to dig.
Presumably it will be cheaper to call someone out to do it though, rather than renting the gear and DIY'ng it.
Offer the scouts a landscaping or ground working badge to find it. Give them a shovel each and a sunny weekend.
How long has it been going on? Might be easier to hire a mini digger and relay it.
Only going off from what leaks cost at my Spanish place... I've had 3 or 4 over the years.. The pipe work from the meter on the roadside to the house is probably more patch work than solid piping...
It. Cost about 300-400euros to call someone out to find, dig, fix, and backfill the garden.
The pipe work is dodgy as hell out there.
I should probably have the lot dug up and re-done to a better standard, but that would cost several thousands, and I've (touch wood) not had a leak for about 3 years.
So it's tricky to draw a line in terms of 'spot fixes' V's ripping the lot out and starting fresh.
I see a lot of videos from the Original Leak Detective on tiktok, maybe try a professional? www.originalleakdetective.co.uk
I was going to suggest my method for leak detection, but it only works inside houses. The method is to remove the screw that I have just put into the pipe.
I was going to suggest my method for leak detection, but it only works inside houses. The method is to remove the screw that I have just put into the pipe.
And then do you put the screw back in to fix it? 😂
Do you have a local Speedy Hire depot? My Scout group are building a target sports range at our district camp site.
In discussion with the camp warden this weekend she mentioned that the Scouts have a deal with Speedy Hire for free/cheap plant hire. Might be an option to get some kit in to help speed up any digging to get to the leak.