Leak Detection
Pinpointing buried water loss before the excavator opens the wrong fifty feet of yard.
Find the break, not the whole trench
A buried water leak is expensive twice: once for the water and the damage, and again for the excavation it takes to go looking. The second cost is the one worth controlling. Narrowing a break to a few feet before anyone starts digging is the difference between a small repair and a re-landscaped property.
What we work on
- Buried water service lines between the meter, well or vault and the structure
- Irrigation mains, laterals and stuck or leaking valves
- Snowmelt and glycol loops losing pressure under driveways, walks and patios
- Hydronic and radiant loops inside slabs
- Pool, spa and water feature supply lines
- Unexplained meter movement and pressure loss with no visible surfacing
Why mountain properties hide leaks
Service lines here are buried deep against frost and often run long distances from the road or a well. Water finds the path of least resistance, which in rocky, fractured ground is frequently sideways along the trench rather than up to the surface. By the time a wet spot appears, it may be nowhere near the break. Add a winter of snowpack over the whole property and the visual clues disappear entirely.
How we approach it
We start with the system itself — meter behaviour, pressure, isolation of zones — to confirm there is a leak and narrow which run it is on. Then acoustic listening at contact points and along the run, with correlation between two points where the pipe allows it, to place the break. Where acoustics are defeated by depth, pipe material or ambient noise, tracer gas or ground penetrating radar can be brought in.
Because we locate as well as listen, we can mark the line's actual path at the same visit — so whoever digs knows both where the break is and where the pipe runs to get there.
A realistic expectation. Leak detection narrows a search area; it is not an x-ray. Conditions on some sites — very deep pipe, heavy ambient noise, certain plastics at low pressure — limit how tight that area gets. We will tell you what we can and cannot say before you spend money on excavation.
Common questions
How do you find a leak without digging?
Pressurised water escaping a buried line makes noise. Acoustic listening equipment picks that up at the surface, at valves and at fittings, and correlation between two points narrows it to a small area. Where acoustics are inconclusive we can introduce tracer gas or use radar to read the wet, disturbed soil around the break.
My water bill jumped but I see nothing on the surface. Is that a leak?
It can be. At Vail Valley depths and in rocky ground, water from a service line break often travels along the trench or into fractured rock instead of surfacing. A rising bill, a meter that turns with everything shut off, or a pressure drop are all worth investigating before the ground opens up.
Can you find leaks under a heated driveway or snowmelt slab?
Snowmelt and glycol systems losing pressure are a common call here. We approach them the same way — acoustically and thermally where conditions allow — with the goal of narrowing the break to the smallest possible area before anyone cuts concrete or pulls pavers.
Do you repair the leak too?
Between Eagle Locates and Double D Resource Services we can find it and open the ground to it. Work that falls under Colorado plumbing licensure is coordinated with a licensed plumber.
Losing water and can't find where.
We narrow it down before the ground opens up. Serving the Vail Valley and Eagle County.