Leak Examples

1500 gpm

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:40:20 -0500

This leak began three days before we were called in to help. Finding a large leak like this is easy if you know where to look for it. This one was outside of town about 1/2 mile and down a steep embankment where the main runs under a drainage ditch.

This leak was so large that the tower levels were dropping every day and soon would have been empty.

Long Journey

Mon, 3 May 2010 18:09:51 -0500

This is video of the leak running into the creek.

Home owner experiences rumble.

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:11:29 -0600

Some might question where the water goes from an undetected leak. This picture demonstrates the problem associated with waiting for a leak to surface.

The leak went into this broken sewer and had existed for a year or two according to the homeowner. She had even called a plumber in to find the loud rumble she constantly heard in her house. His answer was that the water meter wasn’t moving so there was nothing he could do.

The estimated size of this leak was 10-12 gallons per minute from this 1” copper line with an annual loss of over 5 million gallons.

300 gallons per minute

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:45:38 -0600

This leak broke loose January 4, 2010. Daily pumpage almost doubled. There was a large cavity created by this leak after 36 days elapsed and 15.5 million gallons had passed under the street to the sewer.

Cavity under the road!

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 08:06:38 -0600

During the course of this survey we discovered a major main break that was estimated to be losing about 300 gpm. The leak had existed for several years and it was growing during that time. It had washed out the soil under the street created a driving hazard.

100' Leak

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 13:25:01 -0500

It is difficult to know where to begin digging when water is surfacing from a leak along a stretch of pavement for 100’. This sometimes happens under the right circumstances with extra large main breaks.

Computer correlation gives the correct spot to dig thus saving excavation and repair costs.

Storm Sewer Conduit

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 13:14:00 -0500

This leak which is certainly not evident from the street, can be seen in the nearby storm sewer.

Leak Travels to Ballpark

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:01:25 -0500

The red circle indicates an area where some of the water from the leak was coming to the surface. This water is traveling several hundred feet to this point.

Valve Leaks

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 12:42:09 -0500

Valve and hydrant leaks can be a source of large losses when allowed to continue for extended periods of time. This is especially true when the size is more than an average size of about one gallon per minute. For example this leak is estimated to be 15 gallons per minute and the monthly loss is $1600.00.

Layers of Concrete

Thu, 4 May 2006 21:29:18 -0500

This is an example of why leaks will continue without being discovered. The leak is approximately 150’ from this manhole. The water travels between the two layers of concrete in this loading dock area. As you can see, the top 8” slab of concrete was poured on an existing parking lot and manhole.

The leak is approximately 15 gpm and costs the company about $2,400 per month.

$100,000 per Year!

Wed, 8 Feb 2006 00:00:00 -0600

We know that the cost of this leak for the commercial customer was $100,000 per year, but the question is: “How many years has this leak existed?”

This problem leakage was not noticed in years past when this large manufacturing plant was operating at full capacity. As operations have slowed in recent years it seemed that the water bill did not decrease proportionately.

A check of the meter on New Year’s Eve when everything was shut down revealed that a 50 gallon per minute loss was occurring.

The leak was on a 8” main and as you can see it was a shear break. The main was bedded in 1” rock and the water was apparently escaping into a nearby storm sewer.

The cost of the leak at $4.30 per thousand gallons was $113,000 per year. Ten years of this leakage would cost more than one million dollars.

More Pictures

Abandoned Main Carries Leak

Mon, 15 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0500

The main you see in the picture was encountered during excavation of a leak. It is an abandoned main and it became a conduit for carrying the water down the hill and away from the leak. Any type of abandoned utility line can carry water away from the point of leakage.

We once worked in a situation where an abandoned steam line carried the water away from the leak. The steam line had at one time provided heat to commercial buildings in the downtown area of this city. The water leak had caused a moisture saturation problem in the basement of a business, but we located the leak 400’ away.

70 gpm Leak Disappears into Sand

Tue, 26 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0500

Sometimes large leaks can exist for extended periods of time without disappearing into man made conduits.

In this case the leak is simply traveling through the sand to the water table. Observing the street gives no indication of moisture, though the leak is very large and the 10” main is only 36” deep.

Ground Rod Penetrates Water Main

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0500

There are always new situations that arise. This leak was tracked down next to this building. Further study indicated that it was directly beneath this electrical system grounding rod.

$7000 per month

Thu, 19 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0500

We were called into this situation because the water bill for the trailer park had jumped from under $1000 per month to $7000 per month. The owner suspected leakage, but had been searching for over a year with no success! The extra $6000 in the water bill had created an intolerable financial situation for the owner of the mobile home park.

This leak was caused by a faulty installation of the 2” PVC water pipe. The joint was put under pressure by the extreme bend that was placed on the pipe. Because the broken joint occurred where the pipe crossed underneath a natural drainage ditch it could not be located by observation.

30” Reinforced Concrete Water Main

Wed, 18 Feb 2004 00:00:00 -0600

This long term leakage was located on a 30” reinforced concrete water main. As always, the reason the leak can exist for years is due to it’s proximity to an adjacent pathway of escape such as a sanitary sewer, storm sewer, tile line, abandoned utility line, or coarse backfill.

Estimated Size: 35 gpm or 18,400,000 gallons per year

Water Utility wholesale price: $.96 per thousand gallons

Estimated cost: $17,600 per year