search
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
    • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
    • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
    • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
    • TECHNOLOGY
    • WATER TREATMENT
    • PMC COLUMNS
      • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
      • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
      • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
      • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
      • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
    • CONTINUING EDUCATION
    • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
    • FIRE PROTECTION
    • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
    • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
    • PME COLUMNS
      • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
      • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
      • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
      • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
      • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
      • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
    • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
    • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
    • CODES
    • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
    • PROJECT PROFILES
    • COLUMNS
      • Codes Corner
      • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
      • Guest Editorial
    • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
    • EBOOKS
    • PODCASTS
    • VIDEOS
    • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
    • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
    • DIRECTORIES
    • PM BOOKSTORE
    • CE CENTER
    • MARKET RESEARCH
    • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
  • SIGN UP!

The High Cost Of Water Leaks

By Kelly Faloon
November 1, 2004
Leak detection services can help homeowners and business owners save money on their water bills.



In an average home, plumbing leaks account for about 14 percent of water consumed. Leaking toilets can waste from 30 to 500 gallons a day - that's about $1,000 a year. Another water waster can be leaks in your irrigation system, especially an older system, which can lose 50 to 75 percent of water to leaks.

Swimming pools and spas are prime leak areas also. That's been the experience of Dick Rennick, founder and CEO of 30-year-old American Leak Detection (Palm Springs, Calif.).

"Pools and spas seem to leak more frequently than anything else," he says. "And a lot of people don't know they leak because they have an automatic pool filler, which constantly keeps the water at a certain level."

There are approximately 1.3 million swimming pools in North America, and the average pool size is from 18,000 gallons to 30,000 gallons. Rennick says that, if a pool loses an inch of water over a 24-hour period, it equates to about 300 gallons.

That's a lot of water.

"An average home with a family of three would really have to work hard to use up 300 gallons of water in 24 hours," he notes.

Ann Belus, co-founder and president of 28-year-old Cable Pipe and Leak Detection, Spring Valley, Calif., sees a pretty even mix of indoor and outdoor leaks in her business.

"The leaks are usually in hot water lines because those pipes are more susceptible to wearing," she says. But the company also does a lot work for condominium and apartment complexes, which run a lot of pipe underground.

This all adds up to higher water bills for homeowners.

"Customers usually call us when they have a high water bill or a high energy bill because their water heater is leaking," Rennick explains. "When the bill isn't $14 a month but $114 a month, then they get concerned."

And most people don't realize how much a small leak will cost them.

"If the leak diameter at 60 psi is 1/4 inch, you can lose 1.2 million gallons of water a quarter, which is a pretty large leak," Belus says. "A smaller leak diameter of 1/32 inch loses 18,500 gallons of water per quarter. That's still a lot of wasted water you're paying for."

Who Do You Call?

Most small plumbing companies don't offer leak detection services. These companies then call in firms such as American Leak Detection or Cable Pipe and Leak Detection. Neither company is in the plumbing repair business, just the leak detection business.

"The larger the company, the more diversified they want to become," Rennick notes. "And in that diversification process, they may venture into leak detection."

Smaller companies usually can't afford the high-tech equipment used in modern plumbing leak detection, Belus says. But the most important aspect of leak detection is not the equipment, which can cost a few thousand dollars and that anyone can buy, but the experience and training of the technicians.

"You can't just hire a plumber, give him the equipment, and tell him to do it," she explains. "He has to fully understand everything that's involved in leak detection, from knowing which pipes are underground to what sounds to listen for."

Rennick agrees. "The only thing that can find that leak is the operator. The operator needs good equipment, but the better the operator is trained, the more chance of him or her being able to pinpoint that leak without doing what we call 'bang and bash'."

"Bang and bash" occurs when you can't pinpoint a leak, so you guess and start putting holes in the walls or digging up the yard. This is how it used to be done before the equipment, and the technicians, became more sophisticated.

"This is a very specialized, very narrow niche," Rennick says. "You cannot master it in a few weeks or a few months. The only way to learn it is by doing it, getting in the trenches, making mistakes, and learning from your mistakes."

Piping systems are going to continue to leak, and leak detection services are going to continue to be in demand, he explains.

Belus says her company still uses the small leak detector that she and her husband started with in 1976. Learning the craft, listening to the sounds of the rushing water in underground pipes or through walls, and knowing where that leak is coming from, that's the key to success in the leak detection business, not necessarily the equipment.

"[Our company has] become very proficient at leak locating because that's all our guys do," Belus adds. "You have to know what to listen for, you have to build up the technique that helps you tell exactly where that leak is underground through experience and training."

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Kelly june 2015 200

Kelly Faloon was a former editor of Plumbing & Mechanical as well as the BNP Media Plumbing Group’s Integrated Content Development Specialist. She also was a former editor of the Radiant Comfort Guide the Radiant & Hydronics Report — both official publications of the Radiant Professionals Alliance — and twice-monthly Radiant & Hydronics eNews, an enewsletter for anyone interested in the world of heating with hot water.

Her editorial specialties included women in plumbing, recruiting for the trades, green construction techniques, water conservation, water treatment, hydronic heating, radiant heating and cooling, snow melt, solar thermal and geothermal.

After a 3½-year stint at sister publication Supply House Times, Faloon joined the PM staff in December 2001 as senior editor. She was named PM’s managing editor in 2006 and editor in 2013.

Previously, she spent nearly 10 years at CCH, a publishing firm specializing in business and tax law, where she wore many hats — proofreader, writer/editor for a daily tax publication, and Internal Revenue Code editor.

 A native of Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula, Faloon is a 1986 journalism graduate of Michigan State University. 

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Worker using the Milwaukee Tool SWITCH PACK drain cleaner

    Pipeline profits: Drain cleaning, pipe inspection create opportunities

    Drain cleaning and inspection services offer lucrative...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke
  • Uponor employee, Arturo Moreno

    The reinvestment in American manufacturing and training

    Plumbing & Mechanical Chief Editor Nicole Krawcke and...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke and Natalie Forster
  • March 2024 Women in Plumbing hero image of woman engineer overlayed by circle of hexagon shapes with numbers from 1 to 10

    Celebrating 10 Influential Women in the Plumbing Industry

    Celebrating Women's History Month and Women in...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke
Manage My Account
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • eMagazine
  • Manage My Preferences

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Plumbing & Mechanical audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Plumbing & Mechanical or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • J.J. Keller CMV vehicles on road
    Sponsored byJ. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

    The dash cam game-changer for small business safety

Popular Stories

Heat pump of air-water technology for the home.

Rethinking Heat Transfer: Why 'Natural' Isn't Always Ideal for Air-to-Water Systems

Buildup inside the iron pumps

Hidden issues and high bills: troubleshooting radiant heat in a luxury home

Bath & Kitchen Pro 2025 Cover 900x550 hero image

eBook | Fifth annual Bath & Kitchen Pro

2025 Bath & Kitchen Pro eBook

Events

November 13, 2024

Future Proofing MEP: Navigating the 2026 High Efficiency Water Heating Standards

Join our deep dive into DOE’s new standards so you can future-proof your MEP practice.

EARN: 0.1 ASPE CEU; 1 AIA LU/HSW; 0.1 IACET CEU*; 1 PDH

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Will business be up or down in 2025?

Do you anticipate business in 2025 to be up or down in comparison to 2024?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

The Water Came To A Stop

The Water Came To A Stop

See More Products

Download the FREE Water Conservation, Quality & Safety eBook: Plumbing Trends Increasing Safe Water Availability

Related Articles

  • Installing new high-efficiency water heaters

    Installing new high-efficiency water heaters

    See More
  • The Quality Of Tap Water

    See More
  • The 'Greening' Of The Bathroom

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • M:\General Shared\__AEC Store Katie Z\AEC Store\Images\Plumbing\new sites\classic_hydronics.gif

    Classic Hydronics - How To Get The Most From Those Older Hot-Water Heating Systems

  • The ACCA Job Safety (1).jpg

    The ACCA On-The-Job Safety Handbook (Pack of 5)

  • greening steam.jpg

    Greening Steam: How to Bring 19th-Century Heating Systems into the 21st Century (and save lots of green!)

See More Products

Events

View AllSubmit An Event
  • November 13, 2024

    Future Proofing MEP: Navigating the 2026 High Efficiency Water Heating Standards

    Join our deep dive into DOE’s new standards so you can future-proof your MEP practice. EARN: 0.1 ASPE CEU; 1 AIA LU/HSW; 0.1 IACET CEU*; 1 PDH
View AllSubmit An Event
×

Keep your content unclogged with our newsletters!

Stay in the know on the latest plumbing & piping industry trends.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
    • Supply House Times
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing