With the Highveld storm season about to begin, Watergate is urging Gauteng property owners to check what is happening underground before the first big downpour. The Fairmount based water leak specialist, in business since 1981, is promoting its CCTV pipe inspection service to homeowners, sectional title complexes and commercial property managers as a way to assess water, sewer and stormwater drain pipes without lifting a single paving brick. JOHANNESBURG, October 2026.
A seasonal stress test for drains
On the Highveld, October is when the seasons change. Winter has been dry for months, and then the first heavy afternoon storms suddenly push large volumes of water through drains and stormwater systems. Over the dry season, pipes can crack, shift or fill with tree roots, and owners often only notice when water backs up, collects where it should not or soaks into walls and foundations. Watergate believes these faults are much easier to deal with now than in the middle of a storm.
A camera view of the line
Watergate’s technicians use specialised CCTV pipe inspection diagnostics to check the integrity of water, sewer and stormwater drain pipes and report back quickly and accurately. The camera shows the real condition of the pipe, including cracks, separated joints, root intrusion and blockages that are starting to form. Owners can then decide what to do based on what is actually happening below ground, not on guesswork.
CCTV pipe inspections are available in Johannesburg, Pretoria and the rest of Gauteng. The service works hand in hand with the company’s main specialism, leak detection, so a property gets a complete view of where it is losing water and what is causing it.
Pinpointing leaks without demolition
Watergate calls itself one of the original leak detection specialists in South Africa. Its technicians use sophisticated acoustic listening devices and gas tracking equipment to find leaks with pinpoint accuracy, so owners do not have to dig around searching for them. The work is non-invasive and non-destructive, and the company sums it up with its own promise: no holes in the wall, no excavations and no headaches.
The company serves residential, commercial and industrial clients. Its specialised pipe location service can track down a pipe even when the owner has no idea where it runs or how deep it lies. Watergate identifies, locates and repairs leaks for homeowners and residential complexes, and also for office buildings, shopping malls, clubs, schools and other institutional facilities.
Watergate keeps its equipment updated and calibrated so that positioning stays accurate, and its technicians receive extensive training. The company is fully licensed and its team are registered plumbers. For property managers weighing up leak detectors, it is this mix of skilled people and calibrated equipment that turns a suspected leak into a confirmed location.
Fixing pipes without digging
When an inspection finds a damaged line, Watergate can often repair it without excavating. Its pipe relining service works from inside the pipe and renews old or burst pipes using zero dig technology. There is no digging, no chopping and no mess, and owners avoid paying for the damage excavation can do to gardens, driveways, floors and other services.
For non-pressure drainage, Watergate uses Blueline, a structural product for stormwater pipes, sewer pipes, trade waste pipes, vertical drain stacks, vent systems and sanitary systems. It can deliver a structural repair even where no existing pipe is left in a section. The company says Blueline fixes leaks, prevents tree root intrusion, helps stop blocked drains and improves fluid flow rate, and adds that independent tests show the system is stronger than new pipe.
Pressurised steel and copper lines, such as water mains, fire suppression systems, HVAC systems, compressed air systems and chemical piping, are handled with Redline. This non-structural relining option coats the inside of the pipe to extend its performance and usable life. According to Watergate, the process takes a fraction of the time of traditional re-piping and does not disturb the property or its landscaping.
Watergate has also added AquaPea, a Smart Approved product that draws on advances in polymer technology to repair pipelines in a different way.
Acting before the wet months
Most people ignore stormwater and sewer lines until something fails, and failures tend to arrive with the first rains. Roots that grew into joints during the dry season, debris that built up in the line and small cracks that opened wider over winter can all cause trouble together once heavy rain hits. Having a CCTV inspection done before the wettest months lets owners schedule repairs when it suits them instead of in an emergency.
Pressurised water pipes follow the same logic. A hidden leak that has run for months adds to the water bill every day it goes unfixed. Sectional title complexes, schools and commercial buildings with long underground pipe runs can see a real difference in running costs, and in the condition of the building, when that leak is found early.
More than forty years in the trade
Since its founding in 1981, Watergate has built up more than 40 years of industry experience. It considers itself one of the first companies to bring pipe relining services to South Africa, with the goal of fixing problems properly and for the long term. Its philosophy, applied to residential complexes, corporate clients and individual homeowners alike, is to find the problem fast and fix it smartly without creating new problems.
The Johannesburg office keeps extended hours: 6am to 10pm Monday to Thursday, 6am to 9pm on Friday, 7am to 7pm on Saturday and 7am to 6pm on Sunday.
To book a CCTV pipe inspection, a leak detection visit or a relining assessment ahead of the summer storms, visit https://watergate.co.za/.
About Watergate
Watergate is a water leak detection and pipe relining specialist located at 36 Livingstone Street, Fairmount, Johannesburg. Established in 1981, it offers residential, commercial and industrial leak detection with acoustic listening devices and gas tracking equipment. Its other services include specialised pipe location, CCTV pipe inspections, trenchless pipe relining with its Blueline and Redline products, and AquaPea polymer pipeline repairs. All of its detection methods are non-invasive and non-destructive, and its team are licensed, registered plumbers.
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Watergate
Email: info@watergate.co.za
Phone: +27 11 485 2245
Website: https://watergate.co.za/
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