Overview

This case study demonstrates how proactive water monitoring enabled identification of a hidden underground leak at one site within a larger residential care portfolio. The leak developed gradually, presenting no visible signs on site, yet created a significant and escalating water loss that would have continued unnoticed without monitoring.

The Problem

Continuous monitoring detected a slow but persistent rise in background flow, indicating abnormal water use outside expected operational patterns.

Alerts and reports were issued to the customer as consumption steadily increased. At the point of intervention, the site was losing approximately:

• 2,500 litres per hour / 2.5 m³ per hour

This equates to:

• 60 m³ per day
• 21,900 m³ per year

The unresolved leak represented an annual loss of: £87,600 per year. 

Critically, the leak remained completely invisible at the surface.

The Investigation Challenge

Leak detection was complicated by several site conditions:

• 140 metres of underground PVC plastic pipework
• Deep pipe installation
• High background noise environment
• Plastic pipe material, which is inherently harder to acoustically assess

Standard leak detection methods were insconclusive due to pipe material and environmental interference.

The Resolution Strategy

To isolate the fault efficiently, a staged investigative approach was adopted:

• A new valve was installed midway along the pipe route
 • This enabled sectional isolation of the network
 • Correlation and acoustic leak detection were repeated
 • A suspect leak zone was identified
 • Targeted excavation confirmed a split collar on a PVC pipe

Following repair, monitoring data confirmed the flow profile returned to near-zero baseline levels.

The Impact

·       Hidden leak identified before catastrophic escalation

·       21,900 m³ of water loss prevented annually

·       £87,600 annual savings achieved

·       No prolonged operational disruption

·       Issue isolated and resolved with precision

·       Portfolio-level monitoring protected site performance

The flow graph clearly shows the progressive loss followed by an immediate return to expected baseline after repair.

Outcome

This event highlights how proactive monitoring protects complex care portfolios from hidden infrastructure failures. A leak with no visible symptoms and difficult detection characteristics was identified, localised and resolved using data-led insight and targeted engineering.

Without monitoring, this loss could have persisted indefinitely, creating a severe financial and environmental impact