FEATURE
47
He described the advantage of the Sewerin system as
being its ability to be placed permanently in a housing
estate and connected via telemetry simcard to give
early warning of leaks within the estate. It similarly has
applicability to municipalities, and Pohorille says this
is a part of SA Leak Detection’s service offering that is
showing the most growth. “What’s creating business is the
understanding of water networks – detecting a leak is one
thing, repairing it quite another.”
Pohorille encourages plumbers to specialise in some of the
technologies of leak detection, “given that this was a field
which was experiencing rapid growth, given the water crisis
in the country”.
Technology separates the men from boys in this market
Daan Badenhorst, director of National Leak Detection
(NLD), says, “We participated in the global water loss
conference held in Cape Town; water loss is a global
concern – several countries were mentioned where the
percentage of water loss is alarmingly high, while others
eagerly use current technology to reduce the loss. Sadly,
in South Africa, the average water loss is estimated as
being between 50-70%. The percentage varies from
municipality to municipality.
He describes the technology they use for leak detection
as being Gutermann Acoustic and Vulkan Loktrace Gas
Leak Detectors., as well as conventional leak detection
equipment. “We are sole importers and distributors of
complete Gutermann leak detection equipment and sole
distributors of Vulkan Loktrace Gas leak detection units. Both
manufacturers are based in Germany – bringing the best of
German technology into South Africa.
“The acoustic range is quite varied and covers all areas
from conventional acoustic leak detection, such as ground
microphones (entry level kits) and leak noise correlators
for the domestic (residential) plumber right up to bulk
mains leak detection for municipalities, cities, suburbs
and estates.
“Permanently installed intelligent sensors provide daily
information (noise level histograms, frequency spectrum,
correlation data, actual sound recordings). Data gathered is
easily transcribed, allowing for the best possible solution in
terms of pinpointing leak areas.”
In a break-down of its market, Badenhorst says, “We cover
all markets, from domestic, commercial or industrial, private
golf estates, large complexes whether flats or individual
units, hospitals, shopping centres and municipalities. We
have even provided leak detection support to both OR Tambo
and Cape Town airports.
“Within the insurance market, NLD is an approved service
provider. Usually we are called to pinpoint a leak area – this
is performed with either acoustic testing or gas (using
natural tracer gas comprised of 95% nitrogen and 5%
hydrogen). Once a leak has been identified, repair work can
begin. Our processes work on the principles of Locate-
Localise-Pinpoint-Repair.”
A brief look over the websites of plumbers suggests most
offer leak detection services, but Badenhorst explains
there are niches within the sector. “The right equipment
makes all the difference – apart from that, leak detection
April 2020 Volume 26 I Number 02
National Leak Detectors’ equipment to monitor for leaks on estates.
is a skill. Competition is a good thing for any business.
The smaller the job, the higher the competition. But the
bigger the project there are fewer competitive companies
in the playing field, due to the need to procure expensive
equipment specific to the project at hand.”
This is because not all water leak jobs are simple. “Water
leaks or damages can be caused by a myriad of situations.
These include and may not be limited to situations where
faulty or inferior plumbing materials have been used, failed
connections, human error, burst pipes due to ageing of the
pipes, and water being fed into a pipeline at pressures that
are too high for the pipeline to carry. Often, water leaks
are impossible to pick up visually because the leak may
be several feet underground. This means a water supply
line leak may go undetected for far too long – wasting
this precious resource. On many occasions, leak detection
is only requested once a sudden massive water account
is received, for which the consumer will need to pay.
Diligence and proactive management is greatly required in
South Africa with regards to reducing water loss through
unknown/unseen leaks,” he says.
In Badenhorst’s experience, the more valves fitted to water
feeding lines, the easier leaking pipes can be isolated.
“Lately, we find the flow of water into the main water
reticulation system is fed at extremely high pressures. This
leads to compromising the integrity of the pipeline and
its fittings. PCV/PRV (pressure control/reducing valves)
are required to be fitted to the main feeding water lines
and set to a manageable pressure to ensure water is fed
efficiently and evenly, thereby immediately reducing water
leaks and prolonging the reticulation system and fittings
along the pipelines.
“Lately, we
find the flow
of water
into the
main water
reticulation
system is fed
at extremely
high
pressures.
This leads to
compromising
the integrity
of the pipeline
and its
fittings.”
“We are currently involved in pipeline maintenance and
upgrades at Unitas Hospital. We are about to begin a project
at Sandton City. One of the most interesting projects we
undertook recently was to prove that a municipal water
meter was faulty and over-reading consumption at a private
golf estate,” says Badenhorst. PA
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