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Littleport and the open fen

Leak detection in Littleport for long fen supply pipes

Around Littleport, a fen home's meter can sit by a drove far from the house. We follow that pipe on foot with a ground microphone and confirm the leak before anyone digs.

Long buried pipes followed on foot

Gas pipework traced once made safe

Half or full day, priced first

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Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Littleport stands a few miles north of Ely, on the Great Ouse, with open fen on most sides. The town has older terraces near its middle and newer streets at its edges, but the longest searches tend to be further out, along the fen droves.

Homes and farms there often take water from a roadside meter through blue plastic pipe that crosses a field, a yard or a long garden, sometimes on a route nobody wrote down. So leak detection in Littleport usually starts with questions on the phone, not equipment.

New-build brick and timber-clad townhouses with solar panels and young street trees, typical of a Cambridgeshire estate A lone brick house beside a straight drainage channel on flat black fields, typical of the Cambridgeshire fens

What a Littleport leak can involve

Wet verge at the meter on a long drove supply

The property

A detached house set well back from a fen drove, fed by blue plastic pipe that crosses a field from a meter on the verge.

The problem

The verge round the meter cover stayed wet and the taps were weak. Fearing a leak on the long run, the owners had already dug one trial hole in the field.

How we found it

The meter did not move with every tap off, and a pressure test showed the long run holding, so the private pipe was sound. Along the verge, the ground microphone was loudest on the road side of the meter.

The outcome

We marked and photographed the spot. As the leak sat before the meter, the owners reported it to Anglian Water with our photographs, and nothing on their land was dug.

Gas pipe under a hallway after a scare

The property

A 2000s house on the town's edge, with its gas pipe running from a meter box on the front wall under a solid hall floor.

The problem

The owner smelt gas by the front door. After the gas emergency service capped the supply, a gas engineer found the pipework losing pressure, but not where.

How we found it

With the pipework isolated, we filled it with a hydrogen and nitrogen mix and worked a detector slowly over the hall floor. The reading peaked near the meter box.

The outcome

We marked and photographed that spot, so the gas engineer could open the floor in one place, and the report logged our readings.

How we search a long fen supply

1

Two readings before you ring

Before ringing, note the meter reading with nothing running, then read it again an hour later. The difference tells us how fast water is leaving the pipe.

2

The stop tap splits house from field

If the meter keeps turning with the house stop tap shut, the leak is outside. We then find where the pipe comes indoors and walk back towards the meter.

3

Finding the loudest point

A ground microphone, set down every few paces, finds where the hiss is loudest. Tracer gas in the isolated pipe must then rise at that point before we mark it.

Who we help in and around Littleport

Homes and farms along the droves

A soft verge, a greener line across a field or weak taps at the far end of the house can point to the buried supply, which we trace on foot.

Owners in the newer streets

Plastic pipe in solid floors hides leaks well. If the boiler loses pressure or the meter creeps, we split heating from supply, then trace the leaking one.

Households after a gas scare

Once the gas emergency service has made a leak safe, we can find the point on the pipework where gas escapes, ready for a registered gas engineer.

Equipment for fen and town properties

Acoustic listening

It needs water under pressure, so the supply stays on. On a long run we listen at intervals, closing the gap until one point stands out.

Tracer gas

Under a field or a concrete yard, a hydrogen and nitrogen mix in the isolated pipe rises at the leak, even where the pipe is too quiet to hear.

Pressure testing

Shutting a long run off at both ends and watching a gauge shows whether the leak is on that run at all, before anyone spends time walking it.

A meter by the drove, a pipe across the land

Anglian Water supplies Littleport. Its part usually ends at the meter or boundary, so on a fen property most of a long supply, including stretches under a field, a yard or a neighbour's land, can be yours. Knowing roughly where it runs saves time and stops digging in the wrong place.

When the insurer wants a price first

Some insurers ask for a price before agreeing to a search. Ours is set by phone or email before you book and covers a half day or a full day, so you can pass it on. Any repair is priced separately once the leak is found, and the report follows payment.

Places near Littleport

Ely lies just south, with Soham beyond; westward, our leak detection in Cambridgeshire reaches Chatteris and March. Over the county lines are Lakenheath in Suffolk and Downham Market in Norfolk.

Leak detection in Ely Leak detection in Soham Leak detection in Lakenheath Leak detection in Downham Market Leak detection in Chatteris Leak detection in March Leak detection in Cambridgeshire
Pale gault brick Victorian terraced houses with bicycles at the railings, typical of Cambridge

Leaks we trace

Water leak detection Leaking water main Central heating leak detection Leaking underfloor heating Shower leak detection Underground water leak detection Gas pipe leak detection Thermal imaging leak detection Acoustic water leak detection Tracer gas leak detection Commercial leak detection Trace and access leak detection Leak detection for landlords Water leak repair

Useful guides

Boiler overflow pipe dripping outside: what it means Central heating leak sealer: what it can and cannot do Damp patch on an internal wall: leak, condensation or something else? Gas meter capped after a leak: what happens next

Common questions in Littleport

No find, no fee on home water leaks covers one leak on a water main up to 30 m or the hot and cold supply pipes, at least half a litre a minute, where we also carry out the access and repair. Longer, shared or unmapped runs are charged at the agreed price; full conditions are on our terms page.

Usually, yes, as long as we can reach the meter and the stop tap and walk the route. Tell us when booking if the pipe runs to or under someone else’s land, so access is sorted well before the day.

We settle the price by phone or email ahead of booking, and it covers half a day on site or a whole one. A long or unknown route is more likely to need the whole day, and a fast find does not lower it.

No. If you can smell gas, ring the gas emergency service first. Our part comes later: tracing the leak on the pipework once they have made it safe. Work on the pipe after that is for a registered gas engineer.

It can be. A leak before your meter is normally theirs, so tell them. If the meter turns with your stop tap shut and the wet ground is on the house side, the pipe at fault is probably your own.

Meter racing at a fen property?

Call 07700 102 008, any day from 8am to 8pm, with the rough length of your supply pipe to hand.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection