Leakage Technician

I usually go to site straight from home about 3 days each week and the other two days I’ll go to the office to get tools, supplies, meet up with my team leader and pick up a new pack of work.  I have an Essex & Suffolk Water van - a transit van with two areas in the back, one for doing my paperwork and the other for transporting anything I need for a job.

I am responsible for trying to locate leaks in the water network (the pipes that distribute the water from the treatment works to each customer).  This is one of the areas of the country with the least rainfall so it’s particularly important for us not to lose water. 

Sometimes we respond to calls where people have found a visible leak, but more often our colleagues in the Network department will have noticed that overnight  levels are not running as they would expect, suggesting a leak.  At night when there isn’t so much demand for water the pipes are generally at their highest pressure so the Network department notice any unexpected changes and the noise of leaks is more easily detected.

If a leak is suspected we will get a pack of work to investigate a large area.  This often takes days, sometimes weeks.  The water network is separated into districts which are metered, so we start by checking the valves on the boundary to check that they are operating properly, then work through the area.  It is a bit like being a detective, trying to distinguish whether noise is a leak or whether it is water being used and then finding where the noise is coming from. If the leak is from a large hole or a split in the pipe there may not be any noise at all.  We use a number of methods to locate leaks depending on what the pipes are made of, how big they are, what the water pressure is etc.  Often the Logging Technician will put sensors on fittings on a mains pipe overnight for us to try to pinpoint noise, other times we will listen to fittings on the pipes using an aquaphone (a bit like a stethoscope), whatever method we are using we need to use common sense and refer to the plans.

Once we think we’ve found a leak, we will complete a job request form, a  maintenance crew will then dig a hole or trench and we will work with them if the leak isn’t where we thought it was.

There is a lot of paperwork to do and you need to be accurate.  When we are filling in job request forms we have to let the office know a lot of detailed information such as where the suspected leak is, the diameter and  materials the pipe is made of, how busy the street is etc. so that the maintenance crew come prepared.    I also have to complete a timesheet to show what I’ve done each day.  We will soon be getting a hand held computer, so the paperwork will be done electronically.

People don’t often see a Leakage Technician at work, so regularly they will come and ask you what you are doing! Some days we work in pairs, others we work alone with the support of the office.  I enjoy it because I can manage my own day, I am out in the fresh air, I meet customers from time to time and no two days are the same.