Leak detection in Southampton

Southern Water's supply to Southampton runs at 280 to 320 ppm CaCO3, and the scale deposits that accumulate inside hard-water pipework can mask early-stage leaks until losses become significant. Our surveys open with a thermal-imaging walkover, which picks out temperature differentials in floor slabs, wall cavities and ground around supply entries – particularly useful in the Edwardian and early-twentieth-century stock in Portswood and Shirley where original lead or iron mains entries are still encountered in SO17.

Where thermal imaging indicates a subsurface loss but cannot pinpoint it to within the tolerance needed for targeted excavation, we move to acoustic correlation: sensors placed at two known pipe access points triangulate the leak position by analysing the frequency signature of escaping water. For voids or complex pipe runs beneath solid floors – common in the post-war reconstruction stock across SO14 and SO16 – tracer gas injection confirms the precise exit point without destructive opening-up.

Every survey closes with an insurance-grade written report: methodology, photographic evidence, pressure-test data and a marked site plan. There is no callout fee; the trace is billed at our half-hour labour rate for the time of day, and any repair is quoted in writing before work starts – see /pricing.