Water Leaks - Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario

EMERGING TRENDS & New Technologies
Pinhole
Water Leaks
What are they,
why do they
happen and
what to do
about them
By Wolfgang Osada
SOONER OR later, all domestic
hot water pipes in condominiums
leak. In fact, it’s happening
to younger and younger buildings.
Dubbed “pinhole” leaks because of
the telltale pattern of internal pipe
erosion that causes the problem, as
a manager you need to understand
why leaks occur and how best to
repair them.
■ Why Highrise Pipes Leak
Constantly flowing water is why
pinhole leaks happen and on the hot
water side of highrise water systems
only. In order to make hot water
immediately available at all taps,
pumps constantly circulate water
into and out of a large central water
tank through a network of horizontal
headers and vertical pipes called
risers. These risers are never more
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than a few feet from faucets, tubs
and showers, so hot water begins
to flow quickly whenever taps are
turned on. As useful as this design
is, internal erosion of copper pipes
is a side effect. The cold water side
of the system doesn’t circulate continuously,
so there’s no pinhole erosion
problem.
■ Stop-Gap Repairs
Pinhole leaks always occur, occasionally
at first, and that’s why
the most popular initial strategy
is to patch them as they happen.
Screw clamps holding self-fusing
silicone tape in place around the
outside surface of the pipe is the
usual repair method, but there are
three problems with this approach:
unnecessary risk, additional pipe
damage and technical futility.
If a building has experienced a
few pinhole leaks, you can be sure
that others are coming, with the
rate of new leaks certain to rise
over time. That’s the nature of internal
hot water pipe erosion. It occurs
throughout the entire system
Pipe lining costs a good 20% less than repiping ... while typically
delivering a longer working life.
with the deepest areas of erosion
surfacing where internal turbulence
and water flow is greatest.
Managing a building with pinhole
leaks is like walking through
a minefield. You never know if the
next step will be harmless or devastating.
That’s because pinholes
can happen in places where leaked
water causes little trouble, or where
one single leak translates into many
thousands of dollars of property
damage.
Pinhole leaks always indicate the
progressive overall weakening of a
highrise water system, and pressure
CM CONDOMINIUM MANAGER MAGAZINE, SUMMER 2011 ■ 19 ■

from screw clamps used for repairing
leaks from the outside often
makes matters worse. The stress
placed on neighbouring areas of
metal encourages leaks where pipes
were previously watertight. That’s
why the seemingly frugal strategy
of patchwork repairs quickly becomes
an expensive exercise in futility.
Not only do the repair bills
add up, but constant water damage
angers residents and causes anxiety
about mould.
■ Traditional Pipe
Replacement
Cut out the bad pipe and put in
the new. This is the pipe replacement
strategy in a nutshell and it’s
an obvious solution to the problem
of pinhole water leaks. The main
challenge is gaining access to the
pipes. Cutting open walls (sometimes
involving the interior of condo
units), removing old pipes and
replacing them, then re-establishing
finished wall surfaces works, but
you need to prepare your residents
for disruption and mess.
There are three main things to
understand about the pipe replacement
option. First, replacing old
pipes with copper is not necessarily
going to prevent leaks long term,
especially if a building has begun
to spring leaks at an early age.
Whatever water flow conditions led
to erosion in the first place won’t
change with the mere replacement
of pipes. These conditions need to
be addressed separately, though
that’s not always easy.
To gain the most from a copper
pipe replacement job, the new pipe
needs to be the thicker-walled Type
L version, not the more economical
and common Type M copper. Also,
consider installing automatic flow
control valves that adjust hot water
recirculation flow rates to minimize
the effects of erosion.
■ Repair from the Inside
Out
Epoxy pipe lining is a technique
for applying a waterproof coating
to the inside surfaces of existing
and leak-prone pipes as they sit
in place. This is a mature process
that’s offered by different application
companies. Developed in Japan
and Europe, the process is newer
to North America but has gained
significant traction in recent years.
Rikos is the industry-leader with 20
years of specialization in highrise
recirculation system pipe lining and
delivering a complete solution to
pinhole leaks. One of the reasons
pipe lining works so well is because
of the way pipes erode under the
influence of turbulent water.
Pipe erosion does not happen
consistently across internal pipe surfaces.
Various patterns of water flow
turbulence cause irregular erosion,
and this is an important fact. Just
because highrise pipes leak, does
not necessarily mean that the entire
pipe wall is uniformly paper thin
and ready to collapse. The reality
is a pockmarked internal surface
with many areas of substantial metal
thickness, punctuated by small zones
of weakness. These are where leaks
happen and they’re ideally suited
to filling and sealing. Epoxy-lined
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pipes end up with an internal coating
that’s several mms thick in areas
with little erosion, and thicker as
needed to fill weaker spots. The epoxies
used are tested and approved
for potable water contact situations,
and they deliver 40 to 60 years of
useful service.
Lack of disruption to buildings
and residents is the main advantage
of the epoxy lining process. No walls
need to be cut, few pipes replaced
and no redecorating of walls completed
after the fact. Less trash goes
to landfill, too. The process involves
draining and drying the inside of specific
riser pipes isolated from the rest
of the system before liquid epoxy is
distributed through the pipes using
hot, compressed air. This liquid
solidifies to a smooth hard coating,
ready for water flow again about 24
hours later. The low-friction internal
surface of lined pipes boosts water
flow rates and pressures, especially
in higher floors.
Pipe lining costs a good 20% less
than repiping (drywall repair and
security costs add to the repipe pre-
Proper System Management
Combats Shortening Pipe Life
It used to be that it took 20 years for pinhole water leaks to
emerge, but today some highrises are springing them after 15
years service. It’s not unusual to see leaks in buildings less than
10 years old. Some leaks are happening in buildings just 4 years
old. One reason is the tendency to design buildings with fewer
risers, smaller diameter water pipes, over-sized pumps and faster
water recirculation flow rates. Regardless of what you’ve got,
you can maximize the service life of any pipe system by following
several steps. Performing a pipe condition assessment is one,
as well as monitoring and balancing water circulation flows. The
slower the water flow, the slower the erosion rates. As a manager
you must also alert board members about the need to accumulate
adequate reserve funds for the inevitable expense of dealing with
pinhole leaks using more than just stop-gap patches. Take your
pinhole leaks seriously. They are rarely an isolated event and they
are increasingly appearing in buildings of all ages.
CONDOLAW.TO
2300 Yonge Street, Suite 2900
P.O. Box 2384 Toronto Ontario
Canada M4P 1E4
T
F
w
416 489 5677
416 489 7794
condolaw.to
CM CONDOMINIUM MANAGER MAGAZINE, SUMMER 2011 ■ 21 ■

MID
CONSTRUCTION
LIMITED
APPLICATOR OF SMIDCRETE®
EXTERIOR EXPANSION JOINT SYSTEMS
BY SMID SYSTEMS INC.
www.smid.ca info@smid.ca tel: (905) 686-2721 fax: (905) 686-2708
Make the dream
of condo living
come true.
PARKING GARAGE RESTORATION
Expansion Joints
Waterproofing and Sealing
Concrete Repair
Traffic Coatings
Carbon Reinforcement (Beams/Columns)
Post-tension Repairs/Replacement
1960 2010 50th
mium), while typically delivering
a longer working life. That said,
care has to be taken when soldering
afterwards because excess heat can
cause delamination of the lining.
Generally, most in-suite renovations
are far enough from the risers and
are not a concern. Most application
companies, Rikos included, offer a
10-year warranty, though ask for
and check references from lining
firms before making any decisions.
Hot water system maintenance
is an expensive, inevitable and
high-stakes condominium management
issue. How you handle this
challenge has a substantial effect
on your professional reputation.
Information, planning and an understanding
of the technical side
of the issue are the best ways to
prepare. ■
Wolfgang Osada is the president
and CEO of Rikos Ltd. He has a
Diplom Ingenieur (Masters in Mechanical
Engineering) from Germany.
He has operated his plumbing
and mechanical firm for almost 40
years. For over 20 years Rikos has
specialized exclusively on highrise
domestic hot water recirculation
systems and pipe lining.
Get Pro-House to look after the reality.
Finance, regulations, maintenance and the unexpected...
we care about the details so you can live worry-free
while the value of your real estate increases.
Caring for buildings continuously for over 30 years.
Our record is proven.
BRIAN MANN - Vice President
416.783.7676 x226
bmann@pro-house.ca
pro-house.ca
PRO HOUSE
Managing condominiums with care
The relining process involves
draining and drying the inside of
specific riser pipes isolated from
the rest of the system before liquid
epoxy is distributed through the
pipes using hot, compressed air.
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