A slab leak can be a serious problem since the bad pipe is hidden under a concrete slab. The only way to stop the leak until it can be fixed by a plumber is to turn off your water or find a shut-off valve to use if there is one. A slab leak can go undetected and cause your water bill to soar. When you find out you have a slab leak, you'll want to get it fixed as soon as possible to bring down your water bill. The first step is locating the leak. Here's how residential slab leak detection is done.

Verify You Have A Leak 

Check your water meter to see if it's moving when the water is turned off inside your house. If so, you can verify there is a leak somewhere. You may then want to start looking for the leak by checking exposed pipes under sinks. If you can't find the leak, it's probably hidden behind a wall or under the foundation slab.

Use An Infrared Camera

An infrared camera is one of the tools your plumber might use for residential slab leak detection. The plumber can quickly scan your home, looking for temperature differences that signal a water leak. This lets the plumber know if the leak is behind a wall or under the slab. The camera also shows the entire spread of the water so you know how much water damage the leak has caused.

It's possible to tell what's going on behind walls and under the floor because the wet area has a different temperature from the dry area. The plumber can also tell if the water is cold or hot. The different temperatures are different colors, so it's almost like looking through the slab to find out what's going on.

Use A Locating Device

An infrared camera narrows down the area where water is leaking, but a plumber needs to know the exact location of the pipe crack. They can find this with a listening device. They'll place the device on the floor and note the sound of the water leak. Then they move the device around and notice if the sound gets louder or quieter.

They'll follow the sound changes to the source of the leak. This can be time-consuming and meticulous work, but finding the exact spot of the leak is important. This allows the plumber to know exactly where the foundation has to be dug up to repair the leaky pipe.

Contact a local plumber to learn more about residential slab leak detection. 

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