Building the Case for Acoustic Water Leak Detection Equipment in Running and Leaking Toilet Fixtures (LeakBird)

Mar.02, 2009 in Prop Management, Public Works, Running Toilets, Water Bills, Water Conservation, Water Crisis, Water Industry, Water Rates, Water Technology

Acoustic water leak detection has been around a long time. It predominates in the water industry when it comes to listening for leaks in underground pipes, in order to protect and secure municipal water supplies from catastrophic underground leaks. A couple of companies that come to mind are SubSurface Leak Detection, Inc, Davis-Inotek Instruments and the RJM Company.

How Acoustic Water Leak Detection Works

Pipelines vibrate when water is passing through them, transmitting different sounds when there is a leak of some kind, as the water rushes into the soil from the pipe, causing seriously disruptive vibratory sounds. Certain remote points, such as water hydrants, water meters or water valves, where installation of acousic water leak detection equipment may be easier, can pick up the transmissions like a stethoscope, filtering the noise in order to determine exactly where the leak is occurring.

This kind of leak detection equipment, complete with microphones and amplifiers, however sophisticated and expensive, is extremely accurate and effective in pinpointing leaks in, for example, massive underground municipal water pipes.

The folks in the water industry often refer to this as “structure-borne noise“, which can be transmitted over great metallic distances. But then there is also “non-structure-borne noise“, which requires the deployment of ground microphones to pick up vibrations caused by the speed of leaking water colliding with the soil.

A complete underground pipe acoustic water leak detection solution requires the deployment of a complex array of microphones, amplifers, filters and headsets. This industry grows ever more sophisticated, effective and simple everyday.

However, few have thought of applying acoustic water leak detection equipment to the consumer end, say, in commercial and residential fixtures which run large amounts of water through their systems.

First and foremost, we think of the toilet, the single biggest culprit when it comes to indoor water waste, consuming 27% to 40% of all building’s indoor water budget, accounting for 90% of all indoor leaks, and perhaps most surprising of all, accounting for 10% of all indoor water usage in the form of running or leaking toilet waste! That’s right, 10% of all in-building water consumption in the United States can be attributed to running and leaking toilets!!!

And with water rates shooting up all over the nation, this is an expensive problem to have, especially for property managers, landlords and homeowners who pay their tenants’ or their own water bills, or municipalities who refund a portion of their customers’ high water bills due to running and leaking toilet fixtures.

So, wouldn’t it make sense to have a device that listened to the environment of a toilet and was trained to sound an alarm or transmit a wireless message to a tenant or landlord or both simultaneously?

And that is just what we have been working on and developing here at LeakBird Industries, as we’ve patented the first and only acoustic leak detection water security system or device for running and leaking toilets that the water industry has ever seen.

Our device is designed for property managers and landlords who are especially effected by high water bills due to their tenants’ running toilet conditions, as this happens most particularly in municipalities where water rates are fairly high and plumbing systems are fairly old and tenuous, cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, New York or Atlanta.

If you are interested in How You Can Increase Your Cash Flows by $2,500.00 Every Year and Never Pay for High Water Bills Due to Your Tenants’ Running Toilets, sign up for our Free Report here.

Abendigo Reebs is the VP of Business Development for LeakBird Industries LLC in San Francisco, CA. He may be reached by email at ben@leakbird

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