how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
(OP)
Hi
following case: Lift shaft with a kind of sump. That one is full with water and the people don't know hoe it actually gets there, since it flows so slowly in.
Is there a possibility to cover the concrete surface with some stuff and (i suppose as a weak spot the intersection, surface bed and wall) it will indicate the leakage spot?
You know this sprays from the mechanicals to indicate hair cracks in metal elements.
http://w ww.screwfi x.com/p/le ak-detecti on-spray-4 00ml/41019#
So is something similar for concrete as well? Which would indicate where the concrete gets wet or even water go through?
following case: Lift shaft with a kind of sump. That one is full with water and the people don't know hoe it actually gets there, since it flows so slowly in.
Is there a possibility to cover the concrete surface with some stuff and (i suppose as a weak spot the intersection, surface bed and wall) it will indicate the leakage spot?
You know this sprays from the mechanicals to indicate hair cracks in metal elements.
http://w
So is something similar for concrete as well? Which would indicate where the concrete gets wet or even water go through?






RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
Come to think of it, this and the screwfix item are for detection gas leakage and not for water.
Alternatively you can inject an environmentally friendly dye into the surrounding groundwater.
RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
It's even slicker for the diver to bring in hydrophilic grout, like SikaFix HH and inject that in the leaky spot. It works almost instantly and you can check the repair with the dye wand while you're in there.
RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
csd72's chalk lines are low tech rather than primitive but probably effective. If there is a hydraulic tube, the seepage could be around that; that is where pressure would be highest. The other thing that comes to mind is condensation but I don't know enough of the environment for this lift.
Michael.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
If the water is really the hydraulic fluid for the lift, then knowing where it enters the sump is of relatively little value, since you'd presumably rather find and correct the source of the leak in the underground piping.
Assuming the latter, a story:
Our municipality's fresh water system comprises iron or concrete pipes with rubber seals. Twenty years ago, they 'solved' a chronic and widespread leakage problem by adding trace amounts of some nasty chemical that causes rubber seals to swell without limit, so every few years we get to buy a new set of dishwasher valves, toilet tank valves, etc.
Of course, now the underground seals have become so distorted that they don't work anymore, so the entire system is being 'lined' with plastic tubes that are collapsed, inserted with minimal excavation, then inflated, and branches pierced by robots or something.
... all of which brings to mind the idea that maybe the leaking lift pipe could be similarly lined, in situ. The technology is now mature and widely available in the US. I'm not sure of the pressure limits or any other gotchas that might apply here.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
I think as CSD72 already said, this idea with the bubbles can only work by gas but not by water.
---TO CSD72---
You ne, from where do you have all this ideas? I think the chalk lines are the solution. Wwaaoowww so primitive and such a good idea.
---TO JEDCLAMPETT---
Thanks for the pdf, this looks interesting. (does it seep into the concrete or is it just on the surface?) I attaché a sketch of our situation. In the lift shaft we have a small sump with the pump but the pump was broken and all the lift equipment got damaged by the water.We don't want to relay on the pump anymore we must see from where the water is actually coming and keep the pump only for emergency if the sprinkler or go on or a pipe breaks in the building.
---TO MIKEHALLOREN---
I assume that it is just groundwater coming up but would really a coating from the inside help? Then the water would go through the whole surface bed, foundations, wall and just stop at the top coating?
RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
Waht I actually don't like about the sikafix HH is that it seams like (according to the description) the fluid must be pressed is with pressure pumps. Are there not easier solutions where the fluid actually seep itself into the concrete?
BauTomTom
RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
That didn't stop the water coming in between the slab and the walls. He also had to pay a guy with a jackhammer to remove the periphery of the slab and install French drains and a sump big enough for two sump pumps. ... which still cycle occasionally, even after sixty years (and several sets of pumps).
You could pressurize the sump with one of those blowers that's used to inflate jump houses for kids. Okay, two of them, with regular replacements.
Or you could move the machinery out of the sump and put it on top of the shaft where a decent roof can keep it dry.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
Use the marking idea....it's about as good as you'll get in concrete, unless you know the source and can inject dye into the source.
RE: how to find a leakage spot (water passage) in concrete?
I think my best solution will be to dry up the shaft and provide the chalk lines, also around the outlet of the pump, just in case that we have asome backpressure and the water comes through the outlet back again.
The next step will be the HH fluid as JEDCLAMPETT recommended. If it can be really applied without any pressure so then it is easy and fine.
Thanks to you all
BauTomTom