Cincinnati Leak Detection

This leak detection, in Western Hills, involved a plastic (blue max) 1-1/2″ leaking water service. The water pipe ran 420 ft up a steep hill to a mixed use office/ warehouse building.

The water leak was flowing at a rate of 1.5 gallons per minute.

The water from the leaking pipe was not surfacing anywhere. This was surprising considering there were a lot of seams in the concrete, all the way up the hill. While running the leak detection test, I ran tracer gas and walked the length of the leaking water service. Listening for the water leak, I only found one area where a very small amount of sound was generated.

The owner initially said that the leaking water line was only 42″ deep, which was not jiving with the tiny amount of sound. After further discussing the water leak test with the owner, I mentioned that there were train tracks in the area many years ago. Having grown up in the area, I was familiar with the location and remembered the train tracks. I wondered if they might have run the leaking water pipe deep, to compensate for the train traffic? He suddenly remembered that there had been a leak up by the building in the past, and that it had been seven feet deep. Drilling at the location where the muffled sound was occurring resulted in a much better leak detection.

The owner called a week later to let me know that the leaking pipe was directly under my blue ‘X’! Check out the Reliable Leak Detection website at reliableleakdetection.com to find other blog stories and customer reviews!