Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Aug 07, 2011 3:08 pm Our underground stormwater pipes are leaking at a rate of 1 litre per minute. We have a charged (water tank) system and water leaks out of the pipes somewhere until all the pipes are emptied. So, it's not a huge amount of water, but every time it rains, rainwater leaks out of the pipes. Now, is it possible and how to somehow isolate and pinpoint where the leak could be? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Need advice from a plumber (and everyone else!) 3Aug 07, 2011 6:14 pm Would need to see a plan before I could make a sensible comment but I suspect it would be fairly hard. Alternatively if you wait for a few dry weeks you could fill then fill up the system with a hosepipe and start looking for a wet patch. (in the past water boards I have worked for have flown over cross country pipelines during droughts looking for green patches) The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Need advice from a plumber (and everyone else!) 4Aug 07, 2011 6:50 pm B STAR how low does the water level go?? Does the water completely empty the pipe work? Water is well below that lower level opening on the input pipe into the tank (this opening is about 30-40cm off the ground). We suspect that all water is emptied, but not sure. We actually did a test yesterday/today, filled the tank, waited until it overflows to know it's full, then my DH monitored his improvisation /test and concluded that water is leaving the pipes at 1l / min. The pipes are about 500-600mm deep and nothing is definitely showing up anywhere. We do have a slight suspicion of one spot that had to be repaired recently, the guy just cut out a piece of pipe and glued back a new length of pipe. Maybe he should have used one of those rubber bands instead of just glue??? It's the normal 10cm PVC pipe. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Need advice from a plumber (and everyone else!) 5Aug 07, 2011 7:18 pm basically where ever the water level finishes up represent where the leak is so this should give you some idea on where to look if you know rough how the pipes are being run. Re: Need advice from a plumber (and everyone else!) 6Aug 07, 2011 8:27 pm Yep, we have a very good idea where all the pipes are. I think we may start with digging at that sus area. I just noticed someone's pipe and the rubber band, while ours is just glued. Perhaps it doesn't really hold. well, I hope so, because then we'll need to dig everywhere at random !!!! Unless there is some kind of aparatus that can point to a leak? Or at least wet underground?? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Need advice from a plumber (and everyone else!) 7Aug 08, 2011 9:39 pm Lex I'm going to be saying lots of 'something' and 'somebody' and 'I think'.... but here goes.... We have an issue with our stormwater pipes whereby until very recently, we didn't know where they went (but we knew they didn't run off our property and ended somewhere on our property). We had no clue how to find out where they ended short of digging up the pipe and following it endlessly. Now... someone (I think it the plumber who specialised in stormwater drains but turned out to be absolutely useful - but expensive) told us something about a product that you could buy and you could flush it down your drains (stormwater) and if there was a leak (or in our case, needing to find the end) it would come up to the surface blue (or purple - or something ). I can't remember the name of the product, but I'm pretty sure he told us you get it from a chemist (or a hardware store, or something ). Sorry, it's all pretty vague (we never ended up using it - we managed to trace ours via a bit of digging). But if you asked around, or asked a chemist, they might know more of what I am talking about. I think they were crystals or salts of some sort??????. I'm pretty sure it was from a chemist. It isn't necessarily a plumbing product (clearly not if you get it from a chemist) but it was something he told me about that plumbers use if they need to trace a leak. Only thing is, you wouldn't want to tip it in your tank - so you'd have to find somewhere to empty it into without ruining your entire water supply. Probably no help, but ya never know. It might?? Good luck. HHCIB Re: Need advice from a plumber (and everyone else!) 8Aug 08, 2011 10:01 pm Probably the most common dye used in plumbing is Fluorescein which is an orange powder which turns the water a very bright green. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Need advice from a plumber (and everyone else!) 10Aug 09, 2011 7:22 am Thanks HHCIB, I completely get the 'somethings' and 'someones' , I think ( ) I use them myself . The only thing is, we are not noticing any wet spots where the pipes are around the house (but we can't really be sure), plus we believe that the pipes are about 500-600mm deep (except on entry points where they obviously start at slab level). So not sure if we'd notice any colour changes but it's definitely worth a try. Now, for the way to get it in while bypassing the tank ... will have to wait and see what the DH comes up with ... Thanks again, great suggestion!! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Ask yourself if the insurance company will be aware of the Reno. 4 7360 A survey must’ve completed by a certified surveyor. This form part of every DA requirement 3 223591 Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 15723 |