Commercial Leak Detection in Phoenix

Use the meter. Shut off or idle every water user you can, then watch the meter's low-flow indicator. If it keeps turning, water is leaving the building somewhere between the meter and a closed fixture. EPA's WaterSense guide notes that a single stuck toilet fill valve can waste thousands of gallons a day, so a running toilet or urinal is the first thing to rule out. Our guide to a water meter leak test walks through the steps, and the overnight water-use investigation page shows how to read a meter when the building is empty.

Multi-tenant buildings add a wrinkle. A suite submeter that keeps moving while the tenant is closed points to that suite. A utility meter that moves with every submeter still is a common-area or underground problem. Write the readings down with the time. That record settles most arguments before anyone opens a wall.

The method depends on where the pipe is and whether it can be taken out of service. Four are in regular use:

• Isolation and pressure testing. Close valves to split the system into sections and see which section loses pressure. It is slow and unglamorous, and it works on any pipe material. It also tells you which fixtures the leaking section feeds.
• Acoustic listening and correlation. Pressurized leaks make noise. EPA describes correlators that place sensors on each side of a suspected leak and compute where the sound originates, and notes that larger, older leaks can be quieter and harder to locate than small new ones.
• Tracer gas. A hydrogen and nitrogen mix is introduced and sensors sniff for it at the surface. EPA says it works best where the line can be dewatered and tested, which is why it suits a section you can isolate rather than a main that must stay live.
• Camera work on the drain side. A camera shows the inside of a sewer or drain line. It cannot see inside a pressurized water pipe, a point our page on camera inspection and water-line leaks explains. When the wet spot is a sewer problem, see sewer camera inspection.

No single method fits every pipe. A good report says which method was used, which section it covered and what it could not rule out.

In Phoenix the meter is the dividing line. The city handles the street side. Everything after the meter is the property owner's, including the service line, the building piping, and the private pressure regulator. Other Valley cities draw the line in their own places, so check your utility. Between a landlord and a tenant, the lease decides, and our page on tenant versus landlord plumbing responsibility covers the usual split. Condo and townhome associations have their own rules; see HOA versus owner leaks.

Insurance is a separate question from responsibility. Keep the detection report, because it records the source and the date. What to document after water damage lists what an insurer tends to ask for.

You have three choices: repair the failed section, reroute around it, or replace the run. Under Phoenix's code, stopping a leak is exempt from a permit, but replacing concealed pipe with new material is new work that needs a permit and an inspection. Digging to reach an underground line requires a utility locate under A.R.S. 40-360.22 before the first shovel, and the markings expire after fifteen working days, so scheduling matters.

HQ repairs leaking commercial water lines, slab leaks and underground leaks, and we give you the price before work starts. If the leak is under a floor, see commercial slab leak repair. If it is the service line between the meter and the building, see commercial water line repair. A leak that is flooding a space right now belongs with emergency commercial pipe burst response and our 24/7 emergency plumber.

Skip the equipment when the cause is already visible. A dripping valve, a toilet that runs, a flushometer that will not shut off or a sprinkler zone stuck on does not need a correlator, it needs a repair. Check irrigation first on a bill spike in summer: Phoenix says outdoor leaks often go undetected, and a cracked backflow assembly or a broken head can look just like a pipe leak on the bill. And if your bill rose but the meter test shows no flow at all, the issue may be a rate, a billing-period difference or a meter-read error, not a leak. Call the utility before you pay for a search.

Give us the address, the meter location, the last two or three bills, which tenants or suites are affected, and when the symptom started. Tell us whether the building can be shut down for a test and when. We offer free estimates, and we work around your hours so a test does not close a tenant for the day. For a broader look at your options by property type, see commercial plumbing in Phoenix and our leak detection service page.