Whether it be conductive metallic or non-conductive plastic piping, our investment in pipe tracing equipment allows us a high level of accuracy in our investigations
Pipe Location
How To Trace a Water Pipe Underground
We are specialists in tracing water pipes and finding water leaks. Whether underground outside or under concrete or wooden floors indoors, we have invested in some of the best water pipe location equipment available in the industry. Every van is equipped with over £20,000 of Hi-tech equipment to help find your water pipes, detect and fix water leaks and find drain pipe defects.
As part of locating pipes, we typically use a combination of equipment including Signal generators, Pipe Knockers, Tracer reels and Drainage cameras.
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“We (Paradigm) were asked by an insurer to locate a water leak under a lovely period house; this took us weeks to locate and was eventually found in the garden some distance away. We didn’t know any better and didn’t have the knowledge or equipment to help us at that time. It was a bit embarrassing; we had spent over £5,000 trying to find a leak under the house only to find it was outside. I realised there had to be a smarter way of doing this.”
How do you locate an underground water pipe?
Utility Tracing and Pipe Locating are methods used to accurately find underground water pipes such as mains water supply pipes, underground drain pipes, electric cables and gas pipes.
It allows us to collect accurate data which aids us in many ways, such as detecting leaks on underground water pipes, locating blockages within an underground drain pipe, locating a hidden septic tank, mapping field drains and ensuring a site is clear of underground service before any excavation work is carried out.
Signal Generators
A signal generator is connected to a conductive material such as copper pipe with a secondary cable earthed into the ground through an earthing spike. Once connected the signal generator sends a pre-selected frequency signal through the line allowing us to track and find the underground pipe with the use of a Signal Receiver. Our equipment allows us to adjust our signals from 0.01 hz through 200 khz, giving us the ability to track long distance underground pipes with high frequencies or short distance at low frequencies.
Comophone knocker
The combophone knocker is effective on all non conductive materials like Alkathene or MDPE water supply lines and pipes where little access is available. The knocker is a battery powered unit which straps around the water pipe and works like a small piston, driving out a metal shaft which knocks against the water pipe, which in turn sends out a heartbeat like sound along the pipe. Our ground microphones are able to listen for that heartbeat like sound and follow it along the presumed pipeline, allowing us to trace the line from point A to Point B with high accuracy.
Glass Fibre Reel
The glass fibre reel is a highly effective and accurate way of tracing a service line like non conductive mains water supply pipes, drainage or even service ducting from as small as 15mm. The reel is inserted and fed continuously into the line, while a signal receiver unit, is used to track the reel by via the sonde attached to the reel head. This provides high accuracy in finding the path of the service and its depth.
CCTV Drain Camera
The CCTV Drain camera is a camera attached to a 70 meter fiber optic reel with a sonde at its head. This serves a dual purpose within the drainage sector, we able to visually see what is going on below ground and at the same time trace the line of the service pipe. This provides for great accuracy in locating the pipe defect, digging down and final repairs, all helping to reduce overall costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you find underground plastic PVC pipes
Plastic is not a good conductor of sound or electricity. This makes our job harder but not impossible, if the preferred options of signal generators and tracer reels aren’t working we can also go to the ‘Water Knocker’, this is a thumper which strikes the pipe and sends a shudder down the water in the pipe, which we can then detect
Can you fing underground water and drain pipes under concrete ?
Yes, the same principles apply regardless of the covering. We have found underground water and drain pipes over two metres down and under one metre of concrete in the past
How do you find my underground water pipe ?
We use a range of equipment such as tracer reels, utility trackers and signal generators. All of which allows us to find underground water and drain pipes by the use of electrical signals
Can you provide me with a sketch of my water and drain pipe positions ?
Yes, we will provide a sketch of the locations of all pipes we locate. This will not be to scale but will be very beneficial for almost any purpose
Going the extra mile for customers
Help with Insurance Companies
Much of our work is carried out on behalf of clients who have insurance cover for ‘Trace & Access’.This cover will usually pay for water leak detection companies to locate your water leak.
The Leak Detective is very aware of the limitations and scope of Trace & Access cover and will advise and guide you through the process to try and make sure your claim is covered.
Upon completion we will provide you with a written report including photos and video which can be presented to your insurer to validate your claim.
We have completed thousands of insurance claim leak detection jobs and are happy to offer free telephone advice from the outset to assist with the claim process.
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