Water is one of our most precious resources in the world. Thus we must protect our water supply in every place we consume it. Wasted water must be avoided. Normally, we do not think about this because it seems that water is an endless supply while we take that long shower, wash that small load of clothes in a full load setting, water our gardens, let the faucet run while brushing our teeth, and other ways that we daily use water and it seems to run forever.
We see huge oceans, long rivers, great fresh water lakes and think there is plenty of water out there so why worry. However, ignored, is the ever growing population and catastrophic consumption of water as a whole. Worse is that unconscious waste of our water supply, and the biggest waste of water is the lack of water leak detection in our manually structured sources: our homes, our office buildings, stores, underground pipelines delivering water, and anything else where there are pipes installed. Maintenance of all these water source consumption is often ignored or cannot be managed because these delivery systems are massive. Water is our biggest resource in life.
So what happens? Old pipes that get rusty will most likely start leaking. Poorly installed or low quality pipes can produce leaks. Change in weather temperatures cause pipe expansion and shrinkage therefore may cause leaks in the pipe intersections. There are various reasons for water leaks and in most situations go undetected.
These small water leaks may seem minor but when you add them all up from the millions of man-made structures and water delivery systems, you have massive water wastage as a whole. That is why it is important to employ water leak detection mechanisms in any structure using water and water delivery systems.
There are many ways to watch for water leaks, both by human senses and through technology. It depends on your time and budget. There is technology for pressure testing, acoustic water leak detection, and more. Or you can simply listen periodically to those most likely sources that may cause water leaks: toilets, shower heads, taps, water heating systems, dishwashers, clothes washers, irrigation systems, pools, spas, and any pipes exposed to weather conditions. Checking them periodically by eye for water leak detection is a good idea.
A technique in using water colouring can be used to visually see water leaks. Watching your water bill (which if you don’t have now you will have soon) for a slow rise in water consumption will give you a clue that you have a water leak somewhere. But there are also automatic water leak detection systems that can be installed to do 24 hour water leak detection and sound an alarm or alert you on some other way.
Once you detect a water leak you must repair it as soon as possible to prevent it becoming worse & potentially damaging your property. But remember water leak detection and repair is not only about you saving money but doing your part in protecting the whole world’s water supply.
