Leak Detection Services

North Dakota Rural Water Systems Association staff are ready, willing, and able to assist with locating water leaks. Leak detection begins with identifying an area of potential water loss, typically using the pressure loss method.

Leak Listener

Once an area of the water system has been identified for leak locating, our staff will begin using an acoustic leak listener.  The leak listener is a compact, portable device that uses a very sensitive microphone and amplifier to listen for leak noises. Once a leak noise has been located, efforts are made to pinpoint the source of the leak noise.

Leak Correlator

A more sophisticated tool for leak detection is a leak correlator.

North Dakota Rural Water Systems Association was able to acquire an Acoustic Leak Correlator through donations and assistance from a grant through the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ) State Revolving Fund Loan Program. The NDDEQ saw the equipment as an investment to ensure operational stability for not only current borrowers, but future borrowers as well.

The SeCorrPhon AC 200 is a multifunctional leak detector. Water escaping from the leak causes the material in the pipeline to vibrate. These vibrations travel along the pipe and can be picked up as structure-borne noise, even at distant contact points, for example fittings. The vibrations also travel through the ground up to the earth’s surface as ground-borne noise, albeit heavily muted. The SeCorrPhon system assists in detecting leaks because it makes the vibrations audible to the human ear, records, and displays the volume and frequency spectrum as a graph.

Locating a leak with a correlator involves simultaneously measuring the noises caused by a leak on the pipeline at two locations (e.g. on valves or hydrants). Highly sensitive microphones record the noises on the fittings and radio transmitters transmit the signals to a receive. The correlator then determines the run time difference, i.e. the time lag between the noises reaching the two measuring points. The correlator calculates the exact leak position using known information such pipeline length between the transmitters, the pipe material and pipe diameter.

Our staff members have extensive experience with leak detection and leak locating.  We look forward to being able to assist your water utility in finding and preventing water loss.