Halma Water Management News - a Halma PR news blog

Reduces excavations to one hole in almost every case

Customer Side Leakage (CSL) is traditionally difficult to pinpoint with acoustic leak detection and often results in several excavations on customer property. HWM Palmer Environmental has introduced the innovative new ‘Leak-Finder’ system specifically designed to provide accurate and reliable pinpointing of CSL. It significantly reduces disruption and speeds repair time as the leak can now be found with the first excavation in almost every case.

Leak-Finder is fully portable and is very simple to use, requiring no specific training. It locates the leak by isolating and pressure testing sections of pipe. The control unit indicates whether the test section is holding pressure or failing, thereby establishing whether or not a leak is present. An incorporated tracing line enables accurate tracing of the line of the pipe to the leak.

To operate, Leak-Finder is connected to an open pipe end or pipe fitting and its hose reeled in to the pipe. A bladder is inflated to block a chosen section, which is then pressurised. The bladder is easily deflated and moved, to change the section under test and to accurately pinpoint the leak.

Designed to work on pipe with a smooth internal bore up to 50mm in diameter, the system is also applicable to other traditionally difficult domestic and industrial leakage situations such as leaks on plastic pipes. Leak-Finder is supplied with a control unit with integral manual pump and indication dials, a reel with 50 metres of plastic tube, a standard set of bladders for pipe up to 50mm diameter, a hose connection from the control unit to reel, and an operating manual.

MicroCorr 7 is a new leak noise correlator from HWM Palmer Environmental. The system takes advantage of the latest technological developments while building on the proven performance of the MicroCorr series. It features new, highly compact transmitters and a PDA control unit connected to the system via Bluetooth with all the traditional correlator functions.

The easily portable MicroCorr 7 system combines two compact, colour-coded red and blue transmitter outstations which can even be installed below ground if necessary. Connected to the outstations are highly sensitive analogue accelerometer sensors. Noise data from each sensor is transmitted back to the PDA via an interface unit. The PDA compares the signals from each outstation and identifies the precise leak location.

The high visibility PDA interface features clear graphics and simple touch operation. It allows the entry of site data and the selection of preset filter settings to ensure optimum leak detection performance. It can be used anywhere within Bluetooth range of the interface unit, which can therefore often be left in a vehicle. For total portability the lightweight unit can also be easily clipped to a belt.

Power is provided by rechargeable batteries, while all cables use military specification twist-lock connectors for maximum signal integrity and reliability. Various PDA options can be supplied, including a ruggedised version, or the user can supply a suitable PDA if preferred. The complete system fits into a compact satchel for easy carriage between sites. A full range of accessories including hydrophone sensors is available.