As dependent as it is on water, all life on earth sometimes suffers a lot from its most precious resource. We, humans, are part of this issue in which we face the dangers of water on a daily basis. Except that the areas that water moves are closed off and thus it can be harder to find out where a leak has occurred. Water leaks can, first of all, cause issues such as mildew and mould in your home.
This may not be as life-threatening as you think but it can cause health issues such as asthma. Another issue you can face with an uncovered water leak is increased utility bills as well as structural damage to the ceiling, walls, and even the roof of your home. As surprising as it may seem a water leak is also able to cause a fire if it comes in contact with electrical wiring, especially an exposed one. To prevent this you need to use a leak detector device.
Types of Water Leak Detectors
Tracer Gas
Although leak detection can be as simple as relying on your senses sometimes a special device is required. One of the most common water leak detectors nowadays is a tracer gas detector. This is a sophisticated water leak detector that can use two different methods, static or dynamic detection. In the former, the traced gas accumulates in a sealed chamber while in the latter the gas is pumped out continuously.
Infrared Gas
An infrared gas analyser uses heat and gas to uncover whether or not there is a leak in your home. Heat is applied to two absorption containers which hold the two gases separated by a diaphragm. The difference in pressure between the two gases will provide the information of a water leak. This difference comes out into electrical output on the analyser.
Halogen Diode
With a halogen diode underground water leak detector, you get to use a device that utilises a specific sensing element. This element operates on the principles of ion emissions. It makes use of tracer gases pressurised inside a vessel. They trigger a probe inside the detector when a leak is detected.
Mass Spectrometer
Being able to sort and filter through different types of charged particles, mass spectrometers are one of the most advanced types of water leak detectors. They are able to release a stream of electrons that can convert particles onto charged ions accelerated to a high speed. This then makes the detector only accumulate the targeted molecules which is why mass spectrometers only operate within a vacuum.
Causes of Water Leaks
Repairs
Although a repair is meant to fix a leak it can sometimes cause one if it's not done properly. Negligent repairs can actually cause more harm than just leaving a leak unattended as the former can cause more severe issues that weren't there before. Also, negligent repairs don't have to occur on the plumbing system in order to be the cause of any leaks.
Corrosion
Since a lot of plumbing systems are made of metallic parts, they are prone to corrosion. This is an inevitable part of plumbing systems made of metal pipes as exposure to moisture over time results in corrosion 100 % of the time. This is why many house owners are switching to plastic pipes for their plumbing systems.
Water Pressure
While water itself can be a nuisance when traversing through metal pipes, the pressure of it can also cause leaks. The presence of high water pressure puts stress on the walls of pipes as it needs to eventually exit. This causes cracks or even holes which then leads to leaks.
Wear
Everything has a certain lifespan and so does your plumbing system. Sometimes you may have a water leak due to the age of your plumbing system, A lot of wear can be caused just by the water passing through the system. This usually occurs over time as the wear on pipes doesn't happen overnight. They lose their flexibility and thickness the more your water passes through which takes quite a long time for any leaks to occur.
Temperatures
The drop in temperatures can cause the pipes of your plumbing system to crack especially if they drop below zero. High temperatures are not going to do anything to your plumbing system except increase the temperature of the water. When it comes to freezing temperatures, a pipe can even burst if temperatures are low enough. Even if a crack as thin as a hair forms during low temperatures, once the temperature goes up the crack will expand and cause a major leak.
Conclusion
Sometimes even something as reliable as an underground plumbing system can cause big issues in your household. But what's important here is that you uncover those issues early on with the use of technology which in this case involves water leak detectors. As long as you use the right one you will find the leak in no time.
