Gas Leak Detection: Signs & What to Do

Gas leaks are one of the few plumbing issues where the usual “keep an eye on it and call someone during business hours” approach can genuinely be dangerous. Knowing what to actually watch for — and what to do the moment you suspect one — matters more here than with almost any other household plumbing problem.

Signs of a Gas Leak

The most reliable sign is smell: household gas suppliers add a sulphur-like, rotten-egg odour specifically so leaks are noticeable, since LPG and natural gas are otherwise odourless. Beyond smell, watch for a hissing sound near a gas appliance, gas line or meter; dead or discoloured vegetation in an otherwise healthy patch of garden near a buried gas line; bubbles in wet ground or puddles near the line; and physical symptoms in people or pets spending time in the affected area — headaches, dizziness, nausea or unusual fatigue that clears up once away from the house.

What to Do Immediately

If you smell gas or suspect a leak: don’t switch any lights, appliances or electrical switches on or off (a spark near an accumulation of gas is a real ignition risk), don’t light a match or use anything with an open flame to “check,” get everyone and pets out of the house, and don’t use your phone inside the house or garage — step outside first. Once safely outside, shut off the gas supply at the meter or cylinder valve if you can do so without going back into a gas-filled area, and call us or your gas supplier’s emergency line from outside. Don’t go back in to “just quickly” grab something until it’s been confirmed safe.

Common Sources We Find

The most frequent gas leak sources on Midrand, Johannesburg and Pretoria properties running gas geysers or gas hobs are: a perished or damaged flexible gas connector hose (these have a service life and do deteriorate, especially outdoors or where exposed to sun), a loose or corroded fitting at the regulator or cylinder connection, a cracked or corroded section of gas line — more common on older installations — and occasionally a faulty appliance valve on the gas geyser or stove itself rather than the supply line. Cylinder-based LPG systems also fail at the cylinder’s own valve or the pigtail connector fairly often, simply from wear.

Detection Tools We Use

Beyond a visual and smell-based inspection, we use an electronic gas leak detector to pinpoint a leak’s exact location along a line or at a fitting — far more precise than the old soapy-water-and-watch-for-bubbles method, though we’ll still use that as a simple secondary check on an exposed fitting. For a suspected underground line leak, this lets us confirm and locate the problem before any digging starts, rather than excavating on a guess.

Why This Isn’t a DIY Fix

Gas work in South Africa should only be done by a registered gas practitioner, and for good reason — a poorly sealed reconnection or a fitting tightened incorrectly can leave a leak that’s worse than the one you started with, just less obvious. Any gas installation or repair work should also come with a Certificate of Conformity confirming it meets the required safety standard, which matters for both your safety and (like a PIRB certificate for water plumbing) for insurance and resale purposes.