For many of us, our homes are our valuable assets even though we might not exactly consider them as such. Think about it, how often is it that you take safety precautions and protect your home the best way you can, evaluating the risks?
I’m sure many of us would take some safety measures regarding burglars or fire in the form of alarms and smoke detectors, yet forget to think of the dangers water leakage can present. You’d be surprised how great of a damage a leaky pipe can pose, so why not eliminate the risk by getting the help of a water leak detector?
Such a device is created to be of use in detecting issues with the plumbing systems as well as the gas pipes thanks to using a tracer gas, considered to be the superior method as opposed to others due to the precise results.
Some of the gases used are helium and the mix of hydrogen and nitrogen since they’re lighter than air and as such penetrate faster, in fact they’re efficient even as low as 25ppm, and other than detecting leaks with pipes, cables, conduits and tanks, they’re equally useful with underground pipes, including those underneath concrete and soil.
This kind of a detector is easy to use thanks to the lightweight design, and also happens to be ideal for particularly critical systems because of the helium which is a non-reacting and non-polluting gas. On the plus side too, you’ve got the chance to pick from two modes, automatic and manual, and you can count on as much as eight hours of use per charge of the Ni-MH batteries.
It’s Money Well Spent
Besides having your home checked for water leakages, it’s advisable to invest in a water leak detector because of the advantages it provides in the long run. This is especially true having in mind you don’t have to be a plumbing expert to see when there’s a problem and prevent a bigger damage from happening.
There’s been an increase in the water damage claims Australia round in the last five years or so not only with flood affected areas but primarily with homes where there’s been some internal water damage mainly because of the use of flexible hoses and their belated replacement along with the lack of relying on water leak detectors.
Getting the right home insurance is one step in protecting your home however getting the necessary detector would accomplish a much greater task; If you need more persuading as to why it’s worth the investment, let’s look into the damages from water leakage.
Depending on where the pipes are located, and where the leak happens exactly, there can be a serious damage to the ceiling, the walls as well as the flooring beyond repair, more so given that such problems can spread at a rapid rate and affect your furnishings too. Don’t forget, you could also get a considerable increase in the water bill!
Now depending on the scale of the problem, residents might end up being forced to move out for an indefinite period, which means other than paying for the damage, one would also have to pay for a hotel, or even rent a new home for who knows how long.
If it’s a home with two floors, there’s a bigger risk the other floor could end up affected too, more reasons to take the detectors seriously. Additionally, leaks can cause slipping accidents, so there’s also the threat of falling and breaking something, or worse in the cases of faulty wiring and electrocutions, and of course, there’s the more subtle problem – mould.
This is a health hazard that can often go unnoticed before it’s too late and you start experiencing some health deterioration because even the slightest leakage can create the perfect environment for mould. Apart from the occasional sneezing, wheezing, nasal congestion and coughing, longer exposure to mould can lead to serious health problems like allergies, skin and eye irritation, as well as asthma.
Choose the Level of Protection
Now that technology has advanced so greatly, and continues to advance for that matter, you can find the water leak detector in a variety of models and prices, so you can choose from an analogue or digital design depending on the amount of money you’re willing to spend and the type of model you’re up for.
There are also systems you can install that go as far as not only alerting you through specialised apps when there are leakages, no matter how small, be it in the heating, cooling pipes or plumbing line cracks, but also preventing damages by shutting off the water supply.
Some advanced models might go as far as alerting you in case of sudden fluctuations in temperature or water pressure. Simply said, when you rely on such equipment you can nip the leaks in the bud, eliminating home and health threats in a timely manner so these are reasons enough to give this kind of protection a consideration.
