I live in an older 5-story apartment building. The riser pipes which supply hot and cold water as well as the sewage pipe have seen better days. It seems that one of them had sprung a leak, possibly in my apartment. The maintenance guys came and changed a piece, but there's still plenty of old pipe there, just waiting for a chance to rain upon an unsuspecting neighbor.
I'd like to have some sort of alarm in place that would notify me that there's something wet in there. I have easy access to the pipes, so I could just check them every now and then, but… that'll get boring soon and I'll just stop doing it. And if I check them rarely (like once a month) then I'll probably miss the essential moment when things can still be salvaged without needing major repairs in the apartment downstairs.
I'd prefer something low-tech, non-electronic. I pass the place every day, so if I could tell at a quick glance that everything is OK, that would be great. Any ideas?
Here's a picture:
Best Answer
This is almost a shopping question. Molecular sieve desiccant, the indicating type would be a non electronic method. This material you could put down kinda like round BB’s or small cylinder shapes . when it turns color Usually from white to blue it’s damp, over time the desiccant will turn colors and it can be put in the oven and bake the moisture out. Many years ago I saw a metal gauge with a disk of desiccant for this exact purpose but did not see one of those with a quick internet search. The Molecular sieve desiccant can be dried many times. Other than that electronic moisture detecting pads would be the only way I would know how to know at a glance.