Hi,

This morning we saw a man from the water company walking down the
street; at first we thought he was reading meters. Actually he lifted
the "manhole"[*] cover at the end of each drive and put a metal rod
down onto the pipe and listened to the other end of the rod. I am sure
I have heard something about water companies listening to pipes but I
can't remember where I heard this (tv or usenet?) and I can't remember
what the point of it was. We were too shy to ask him

Why would he be listening to pipes? Is he listening for leaks?

TIA

* I'm not sure manhole is the right word because to me a man hole has
to be man size but you know what I mean, the cover over the stop tap
at the bottom of the drive.

Sam wrote:

Why would he be listening to pipes? Is he listening for leaks?

Yes.

"Sam" wrote in message
...
Hi,

This morning we saw a man from the water company walking down the
street; at first we thought he was reading meters. Actually he lifted
the "manhole"[*] cover at the end of each drive and put a metal rod
down onto the pipe and listened to the other end of the rod. I am sure
I have heard something about water companies listening to pipes but I
can't remember where I heard this (tv or usenet?) and I can't remember
what the point of it was. We were too shy to ask him

Why would he be listening to pipes? Is he listening for leaks?

Yes, it's a very well established technique, also works for detecing worn
bearings etc. Try it yourself, any old rod or stick will do. I fold the
little flap in front of the earhole over the hole and put one end of the
stick on that and the other on whatever metal you are listening to. You'll
hear a water leak all over the pipe system in the locale, they will have
been looking for where it sounded loudest, giving them a smaller area to
dig.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:46:01 -0000, "Bob Mannix"
wrote:


Why would he be listening to pipes? Is he listening for leaks?

Yes, it's a very well established technique, also works for detecing worn
bearings etc. Try it yourself, any old rod or stick will do. I fold the
little flap in front of the earhole over the hole and put one end of the
stick on that and the other on whatever metal you are listening to. You'll
hear a water leak all over the pipe system in the locale, they will have
been looking for where it sounded loudest, giving them a smaller area to
dig.

An old "water man" said to me as a kid : If it doesn't stop it means
there's a leak.

DG

"Sam" wrote in message
...
Hi,

This morning we saw a man from the water company walking down the
street; at first we thought he was reading meters. Actually he lifted
the "manhole"[*] cover at the end of each drive and put a metal rod
down onto the pipe and listened to the other end of the rod. I am sure
I have heard something about water companies listening to pipes but I
can't remember where I heard this (tv or usenet?) and I can't remember
what the point of it was. We were too shy to ask him

It's a shame you didn't ask him. I asked one outside our house last year and
he was delighted to tell me all about it, he said it broke the monotony of
the job.

Why would he be listening to pipes? Is he listening for leaks?

Yes, as others have said.

Mary

Steve Firth wrote:
Sam wrote:

Why would he be listening to pipes? Is he listening for leaks?

Yes.

I've seen them wandering about town in the dead of night with their
sticks. Presumably the only time it's quiet enough

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:33:02 GMT, Sam wrote:

Hi,

This morning we saw a man from the water company walking down the
street; at first we thought he was reading meters. Actually he lifted
the "manhole"[*] cover at the end of each drive and put a metal rod
down onto the pipe and listened to the other end of the rod. I am sure
I have heard something about water companies listening to pipes but I
can't remember where I heard this (tv or usenet?) and I can't remember
what the point of it was. We were too shy to ask him


What you need to do is form a homewatch for your street. Then you can
waltz out and ask anyone you like what they're up to - as long as
you're polite, smile and say you're with the homewatch most genuine
workmen don't mind someone asking them.
And the ones who do mind, well they should be reported instantly! ;-)




Why would he be listening to pipes? Is he listening for leaks?

TIA

* I'm not sure manhole is the right word because to me a man hole has
to be man size but you know what I mean, the cover over the stop tap
at the bottom of the drive.

a mini man hole?

I've seen a water board bloke listening to the fence once - only cos
the council had put the fence up on top of the line of the water
pipes... he then dowsed his way across the garden and tracked the leak
down to the huge water fountain erupting from the back garden.
(Spectacular as the water pressure was spot on to get it to the 8th
floor!)

--
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk

On 16 Nov, 12:42, Stuart Noble
wrote:
Steve Firth wrote:
Sam wrote:

Why would he be listening to pipes? Is he listening for leaks?

Yes.

I've seen them wandering about town in the dead of night with their
sticks. Presumably the only time it's quiet enough

Also, fewer people will be running taps, which as well as masking the
actual sound of the leak reduces the local pressure allowing some
leaks to close.

Chris

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:42:02 GMT, Stuart Noble
wrote:

Steve Firth wrote:
Sam wrote:

Why would he be listening to pipes? Is he listening for leaks?

Yes.

I've seen them wandering about town in the dead of night with their
sticks.

They're the night watchmen.

:-)

--
Frank Erskine

"mogga" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:33:02 GMT, Sam wrote:

Hi,

This morning we saw a man from the water company walking down the
street; at first we thought he was reading meters. Actually he lifted
the "manhole"[*] cover at the end of each drive and put a metal rod
down onto the pipe and listened to the other end of the rod. I am sure
I have heard something about water companies listening to pipes but I
can't remember where I heard this (tv or usenet?) and I can't remember
what the point of it was. We were too shy to ask him


What you need to do is form a homewatch for your street. Then you can
waltz out and ask anyone you like what they're up to - as long as
you're polite, smile and say you're with the homewatch most genuine
workmen don't mind someone asking them.

You don't need to form a homewatch!

Most people enjoy talking about what they do.

Mary

Mary Fisher wrote:
"mogga" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:33:02 GMT, Sam wrote:

Hi,

This morning we saw a man from the water company walking down the
street; at first we thought he was reading meters. Actually he lifted
the "manhole"[*] cover at the end of each drive and put a metal rod
down onto the pipe and listened to the other end of the rod. I am sure
I have heard something about water companies listening to pipes but I
can't remember where I heard this (tv or usenet?) and I can't remember
what the point of it was. We were too shy to ask him

What you need to do is form a homewatch for your street. Then you can
waltz out and ask anyone you like what they're up to - as long as
you're polite, smile and say you're with the homewatch most genuine
workmen don't mind someone asking them.

You don't need to form a homewatch!

Most people enjoy talking about what they do.

Mary


Similar in principle to the wheel tappers. Fred the wheel tapper started
off tapping train wheels one morning, changed 25 wheels before he
realised his hammer had a cracked head!.
Sorry old chestnut.

Sam wrote:
Hi,

This morning we saw a man from the water company walking down the
street; at first we thought he was reading meters. Actually he lifted
the "manhole"[*] cover at the end of each drive and put a metal rod
down onto the pipe and listened to the other end of the rod. I am sure
I have heard something about water companies listening to pipes but I
can't remember where I heard this (tv or usenet?) and I can't remember
what the point of it was. We were too shy to ask him

Why would he be listening to pipes? Is he listening for leaks?

TIA

* I'm not sure manhole is the right word because to me a man hole has
to be man size but you know what I mean, the cover over the stop tap
at the bottom of the drive.

Probably should be 'person hole' these days.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Bob Mannix wrote:
"Sam" wrote in message
...
Hi,

This morning we saw a man from the water company walking down the
street; at first we thought he was reading meters. Actually he lifted
the "manhole"[*] cover at the end of each drive and put a metal rod
down onto the pipe and listened to the other end of the rod. I am
sure I have heard something about water companies listening to pipes
but I can't remember where I heard this (tv or usenet?) and I can't
remember what the point of it was. We were too shy to ask him

Why would he be listening to pipes? Is he listening for leaks?

Yes, it's a very well established technique, also works for detecing
worn bearings etc. Try it yourself, any old rod or stick will do. I
fold the little flap in front of the earhole over the hole and put
one end of the stick on that and the other on whatever metal you are
listening to. You'll hear a water leak all over the pipe system in
the locale, they will have been looking for where it sounded loudest,
giving them a smaller area to dig.

I did some work a while ago for a lady who worked for the water company in
the leak detection dept. They use ultrasonic scanners, listening rods and
also apparently dowsing rods. She reckoned it did actually work.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 16:48:38 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

They use ultrasonic scanners,

What I've seen is they use a pair of microphones that straddle the
leak by quite a few metres. They then apply a variable delay (positive
or negative) to the signal from one microphone and subtract the signal
fom mic 1 from mic 2 and tune for a null by varying the delay (and
amplitudes).

They can then work out where the leak is.

listening rods and
also apparently dowsing rods. She reckoned it did actually work.

I still have an open mind on dowsing.

DG