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Water leak detection and repair case study.

Author: Graham Mann, Water Audit Expert.

Wolseley UK Ltd have their water and waste water bills audited prior to payment under a Water Bill Validation and Bureau Service scheme, one of the sites in the South East was identified as having high water usage and water leak detection engineers were dispatched to investigate.

The first stage upon arrival is to locate the water meter which in this case is in an underground meter chamber, the flow rate through the water meter was observed at 1.44m3 (cubic meters, each m3 is 220 gallons) making a total annual water loss at 12,614m3 or 2,775,168 gallons at a cost of £ 21,500 per year.

Using acoustic listening techniques an underground water leak noise was heard over a 3 sq metre area and the leak position was marked down for future excavation.

Returning to site the water leak repair engineers excavated the water leakage position and exposed a damaged water supply pipe, the damaged section of the supply pipe was cut out and a new section of 25mm medium density polyethelene (MDPE) water pipe was installed. The excavation was back filled and all the block paving was reinstated as found.

12,614m3 has been saved with a monetary value of £21,500 resulting in a payback of 1 month.

The 12,614m3 of water saved would provide enough water for 238 people for 1 year or imagine 394 large tankers end to end.