A GPRS Case Study

Acoustic Leak Detection Finds 28-Million-Gallon Leak at Historic RACER PFAS Site

The GPRS Leak Detection team located an underground water leak that we were having trouble locating. Their team pinpointed the leak location so we could make the needed repairs.

Craig Orlowski

Insite Real Estate, LLC.

Highlights

THE BIG IDEA

INDUSTRY

Facility Management, Environmental

SERVICE

Leak Detection, Utility Locating

ASK

Find a constant fast-moving leak in the fire suppression system that was costing the customer millions of gallons of water loss and untold additional expense

PROJECT APPLICATION

Pinpoint the fire suppression leak at its source through acoustic leak detection and leak correlator detection

TASK

To pinpoint a one gallon per second leak that had been hidden for 11 months in the fire suppression system for Insite Real Estate at an historic Michigan RACER-administered PFAS site.

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PROBLEM

Insite Real Estate had been searching for the fast-running leak in the fire suppression system at their site for nearly a year
At one gallon per second, over 11 months, the leak caused as much as 28 million gallons of lost water on site, all of which Insite had to pay for
Multiple jockey pumps were constantly running to keep the system pressure at 150 psi, which increased the electric bill
The site is an historic WWII bomber manufacturing plant and former GM facility, which was under the care of the Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust and monitored for PFAS contaminants in the water supply

Solution

GPRS Leak Detection Project Managers listened to every contact point (hydrant, piv, valve, meter pit, etc.)
The PMs concluded that the noise was predominately near two hydrants
Leak correlation pinpointed the leak to the pipe running under/on the sidewalk
Once the leak was pinpointed, Insite could have it repaired efficiently and minimize risk

Benefits

Insite was able to excavate only where the leak was located, instead of digging up the entire fire loop or a certain section of the pipe in a potentially risky environment
By pinpointing their excavation, Insite was able to repair the leak and stem the outflow of both water and money it had caused