Leak Repair: Quick Response and Detection Technology Are Key
4/10/2024
When dealing with a water leak, keeping costs from spiraling and maintaining health and safety standards depends on how quickly technicians can detect, analyze and repair the problem. Delays can lead to larger problems.
“Response time is key when addressing water-related issues,” Gougler says. “The longer water remains stagnant or continues to leak from a broken pipe, the greater the potential for additional costs to accumulate. These costs may involve repairing damaged drywall, conducting mold remediation or restoring compromised infrastructure.
“Taking prompt action to rectify these issues is crucial to prevent further damage and mitigate associated expenses. Cost savings achieved by addressing the problem swiftly far outweigh the potential costs incurred by delaying action.”
A swift response to a leak can help avoid the growth of mold, which can cause illness in individuals, especially those with allergies or asthma.
“Rapid correction and drying are critical, since wet building materials can allow mold to colonize within 48 hours of being wet if not properly dried,” Wellington says. “Now the building owner is faced with not only a leak and subsequent mold but potential indoor air issues caused by the mold.”
Faulty fire and life safety systems also require an immediate response.
“A lot of facilities have standpipes for the fire sprinkler systems, that when they’re called upon to use, if there’s a failure in the system someplace, are you getting the fire water where you need to get the fire water?” Pittman says. “If it’s a standpipe, where the fire department is actually dependent on connecting a hose at an upper floor, and you’ve got a failed line?
“So, identifying leaks: crucial. Getting them repaired: more crucial.”
Mitigation and technology
Efforts by managers and technicians to mitigate water leaks can be daunting.
“There’s really no easy button to mitigate water leaks,” Pittman says. “But advances in technology have significantly helped not just in quickly detecting and locating water leaks in plumbing systems and related components or the presence of moisture but slowing or stopping the flow of water until repairs can be made.
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“Examples of equipment available include water alarms, thermal imaging and infrared cameras, acoustic and ultrasonic leak detectors and satellite water leak detection systems.”
Through smart technology, many devices allow front-line technicians to monitor plumbing systems and water use, and they can send alerts via text message or email to their smartphones when an issue arises.
Mitigation does not have to be solely based on technology. Technicians can take plenty of traditional actions, including regular inspections of plumbing systems, roofs, windows and drains.
Monitoring water bills is another effective mitigation tool.
“Taking a look at that average monthly consumption. Is it where it should be, within an established threshold?” Pittman says. “If that consumption gets higher, you should have a trigger there to identify that so you can immediately go out there and start looking for why that consumption changed.”
Wellington says managers should keep an updated water management plan for their buildings.
“These typically have a thorough assessment of the facility’s water management and sources with documentation on steps the facility should take when responding to a positive case scenario,” he says.
A building’s occupants, including maintenance technicians, janitorial staff and employees also can be valuable resources in addressing leaks by reporting water issues quickly.
They can say, “‘Hey, I see water coming out of the bathroom sink when it’s turned off,’ ” he says. “Let’s go get it fixed.”
Frank Rigas is a freelance writer based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.