A dripping tap is easy to spot. A leak hidden behind a wall, under a slab, or deep in your garden is a different story altogether. By the time you notice the damage, it’s often already cost you hundreds in wasted water.
Hidden leaks are actually more common than most homeowners realise, and they don’t always announce themselves with a puddle on the floor. A sudden spike in your water bill, a damp patch that won’t dry out, or the faint sound of running water when every tap is off can all be signs of leaking pipes lurking out of sight.
The good news?t Modern leak detection technology has revolutionised the ways that Melbourne-based plumbers handle this issue. Keep reading to learn more!
Signs You Might Have a Hidden Water Leak
There are many different signs that can indicate you have a water leak. Some are obvious once you know what to look for, while others can be a little more subtle and hard to detect.
- High Water Bills. If you get a sudden spike in your water bill when your general usage hasn’t changed, this can be a big sign that you have a hidden water leak. You’re using water somewhere; you just need to know where.
- Moving Meter Clock. Even when you turn all the taps off, the dials on your water meter keep turning. This shows water is coming through your meter and being used somewhere, which indicates a leak.
- Water Damage on the Walls. If you have brown or yellow staining on your drywall, or the paint, or wallpaper, in your home is bubbling or peeling, this can indicate there is a water leak in your roof cavity.
- Bad Smells. Can you smell a musty odour, or a damp smell in some rooms, but you can’t see anything? This can be water damage behind the walls or beneath the floorboards.
- Floor Problems. Does your carpet feel spongy or even wet to the touch when you walk on it, or, the floorboards look warped? This can be a water leak beneath your home.
- Sounds of Water. That hissing sound of running water, or the sound of dripping behind your walls when the house is quiet, can indicate leakage.
- Wet Yard. Do you have green patches of grass that grow better than other parts? Or do you have soggy spots in your garden or lawn, when everything else is dry? It could be a pipe leaking beneath the ground.
How to Test for a Leak
- Turn off every tap and water-using appliance in your house.
- Go look at your water meter and note the number.
- Wait up to thirty minutes without using any water.
- Check the meter again; if the numbers or dials moved, water is escaping somewhere.
Common Causes of Leaking Pipes Melbourne Homes Face
In Melbourne there are some commonalities among the many reasons for leaking pipes. They can include rusted or corroded pipes or invasive roots from trees growing alongside the road or in your yard.
Older Melbourne homes, built before the 1960s, often have galvanised iron pipes. These can rust and thin out over time, and end up leaking. If they’re on the roof, such as guttering, then they can leak into your roof cavity. If they’re the pipes running underground, then you can have waterlogged spots in your garden, indicating a leak.
There are many suburbs in Melbourne that have old trees along the roads, and in people’s yards. These trees are protected by a heritage overlay. They also have aggressive roots that seek out moisture. They have the ability to crack underground clay pipes, or if a PVC pipe already has a leak, the roots get into the pipe itself.
A lot of Melbourne is built on shifting, reactive clay soils that swell when it is wet and shrink when it gets dry. This movement places stress on the pipes, which can cause them to bend or split.
Similarly, extreme temperatures in Melbourne can cause pipes to expand in the heat and cool in the chill. This weakens joints over time, causing pipes to burst.
Finally, high water pressure can lead to leaks. Municipal water pressure can put constant stress on your domestic pipes. You can have sudden joint bursts or slow leaking over time from the constant push of water.
How Melbourne Plumbers Find and Fix Leaks
You may have noticed some of the signs of a leak mentioned above, which is a good sign that you should call the professionals, such as our team from AT Plumbing. We can verify your claim, and we can do a much more thorough investigation to find the source of the leak, specifically what is causing it, and then explain how we can fix it.
The first thing our team will do is check the water meter with all of your water fixtures turned off. If the water meter is still ticking over, then there is a leak on your side.
If the signs of a leak are there, but the meter doesn’t move when all your fixtures are off, this can indicate a water leak on the provider’s side. While still annoying for you, it means they will foot the bill for repairs.
If the meter ticks over while all your water fixtures are off, we move to the next step. We shut off certain valves to divide your home into zones. This allows us to determine where the leak is coming from, such as whether it is inside the home, outside in the front yard, or in the back garden.
Next is pressure testing. Gauges are attached to hose lines to pressurise the system with either water or short bursts of air. This will sometimes show leaks right away. Otherwise, we monitor for 15 minutes to detect pressure drops in the system, which will show us a compromised pipe.
We also can use acoustic detection, with ground microphones and amplified headphones. We listen for the tell-tale sound of hissing, which is air or water escaping a pressurised pipe.
Our team can use thermal imaging cameras to scan floors and walls of your home as well. This detects subtle temperature variations caused by warm, evaporating water that is seeping out of pipes.
Why Blocked Drains and Leaks Often Go Hand in Hand
One often begets the other. You detect a leak, and it’s usually a leak because a drain is blocked and the water needs to go somewhere. It is a cause-and-effect relationship. Because of the blockage, the pipes leak. Alternatively, because a pipe has cracked and formed a leak, debris can get in and block the pipe.
Keep this in mind when a plumber comes to investigate. While you were expecting just a leaky pipe, you are suddenly surprised with a quote to unblock a pipe as well.
How Blocked Drains Cause Leaks
When a blockage halts water flow, it creates a hostile environment for your pipes:
- Pressure Buildup: Water trapped behind a clog has nowhere to go. The weight and constant force put extreme stress on pipe joints, seals, and connections, eventually forcing them apart.
- Corrosion and Pipe Decay: Trapped wastewater often contains harsh chemicals, food acids, or organic matter. Prolonged contact eats away at metal and plastic pipes, thinning the walls until a leak develops.
- Shifting Ground: Severe underground drain blockages can cause water to seep into the surrounding soil. This saturates the earth, causing the ground to shift and crack the very pipes buried within it.
How Leaks Cause Blocked Drains
Conversely, a pre-existing leak can easily invite material into the system that stops water flow entirely:
- Tree Root Invasion: Tree roots naturally seek out moisture. Even a microscopic pinhole leak in an underground pipe releases water that attracts roots. They break into the pipe and grow into a massive clog.
- Soil and Debris Entry: A cracked or leaking underground pipe allows surrounding dirt, rocks, and silt to enter the line, quickly creating a heavy physical blockage.
- Loss of Flow Velocity: Pipes rely on a specific water volume and speed to push waste forward. A leak drops the internal water pressure, causing solid waste to settle in the pipe instead of washing away.
The Cost of Ignoring a Hidden Leak
There can be significant financial costs, and health costs when you ignore a leaking pipe. Structural damage to your home, increased water bills or mould, all contribute to higher costs of living.
Wasted water from a leak can push your water bills up. Smaller leaks might give you bill creep that you won’t notice for a while. Big leaks will cause a massive spike in usage, and in how much you owe.
If you ignore a leak, when you do finally take action, the costs to repair could be significantly higher compared to if you nipped the leak in the bud early. And if you try to claim damages on insurance, if they can see that you knew it existed but ignored it, they may deny water damage due to neglect.
Water rots timber. This can warp your floors and even cause the stumps of your house to decay. Restumping your home is a massive financial commitment, not only to restump, but also to also repair the damage to your walls, roof, and much more.
Standing water can be a health risk. It can attract pests, such as cockroaches or termites, looking for a source of drinking water. It can also cause toxic mould to grow. This can trigger respiratory issues, and cost upwards of $3,000 to clean and remove.
Don’t Wait for the Puddle: Call in the Experts
Hidden leaks rarely announce themselves loudly. A creeping water bill, a musty smell, or a patch of grass that’s greener than the rest are often the only clues you’ll get before the damage sets in. Left alone, even a small leak can lead to a repair bill far higher than if it had been caught early.
The good news is that you don’t have to guess. With the right combination of pressure testing, acoustic detection, and thermal imaging, a professional can pinpoint the source of a leak without tearing up your home or garden. If you’ve noticed any of the warning signs above, or your water bill has crept up for no obvious reason, it’s worth getting it checked before it becomes a bigger problem.
Get in touch with the team at AT Plumbing Melbourne for leak detection you can rely on.
