FIXING A HOLE

$24 million a year finding leaks in pools. It's a high-tech science.

• A pinhole (@40 psi) sized leak in a plumbing system loes approximately 970 gallons of water in a 24 hour period. This can equate to approximately 30,000 gallons a month, or 360,000 gallons per year.
  
• A leaking toilet can lose 90,000 gallons of water a month.
  
  
• A dripping faucet/hose bibb can lose up to 180 gallons a month, 2160 gallons per year.
  
  
• Approximately one in every 20 pools has a leak.
  
  
• Approximately one in every 318 homes or buildings has a leak.
  

American Leak Detection is the largest leak detection company in the United States. Thousands of customers call on their services each year to find any type of leak--regardless of where it might be.

With the company's state-of-the-art technology and sensitive equipment, they can detect a leak twenty feet under the ground. The company has been in business for 25 years helping people locate leaks in slabs, pools, spas, and on commercial sites.

Dick Rennick, the founder and CEO, is the son of a plumber. From the time he was a child helping out on the job, his father sent him to search for leaks with a chisel and sledgehammer.

After many years of bruised fingers from this traditional "search and destroy" tactic, Dick knew there had to be a better way.

He set out to find an engineer who could help him build an electronic listening device, similar to a stethoscope, that would enable him to hear the sound of water escaping under the ground. That was more than 30 years ago, and it was the beginning of American Leak Detection.

"We started out with a leakfinder that was clunky and primitive, with a big box to filter out sounds like jets going overhead," said Rennick.

"Today it's done with a microprocessor the size of your thumbnail, but the concept is the same--sensitive electronic circuitry that makes it possible to hear tiny water bubbles bursting more than 20 feet underground, behind walls or wherever pipes may be located."

The company was recently called in to look for a leak under a freeway in Albuquerque that different plumbers and contractors had been hunting for weeks. "We found it the day we arrived on the scene and found four more leaks within the next two days--leaks they didn't even know they had," said Rennick.

Today, the company is an international franchise operation with more than 295 offices located in 38 states and 8 countries.

The company has won numerous awards for their training programs and franchisee satisfaction, but many consumers have never heard of them and don't even realize there are companies dedicated to finding leaks.

"Because the services we offer are so unique, one of the biggest challenges we face is getting folks to know who we are, and what we can do for them, before they need us, because our services are only required after a problem is discovered or detected, " said Dick Rennick.

"Obviously, with sales of more than $24 million, people are utilizing American Leak Detection's services, but we're a long way from being a household name."

For the first four years of ALD's existence, Rennick kept his policeman's job and socked away a portion of every paycheck for research and development. He promoted his new business by parking his company truck in visible locations around town and personally distributing flyers.

In 1979, he began expanding by selling dealerships. In 1982, with the business still on shaky ground, he moved his headquarters from Hemet, California, to the more lucrative Palm Springs area, and his wife Lorrie became an integral part of the team taking charge of much of the paperwork, accompanying Rennick on jobs and even hauling buckets of cement used for leak repair.

Lorrie stills participates as executive vice president and handles the company's profit sharing plan and annual convention, among other things.

By 1984, after several years of searching for creative financing options, Rennick had enough pieces in place to begin franchising. He found a franchise attorney willing to lower his fee in exchange for company stock, and convinced several dealers to franchise by offering to pay them a favorable interest rate on the money they invested in the company.

He also talked 11 of the original 12 dealers into converting their operations into franchise locations. Gradually, ALD franchising spread across the U.S., Canada and now the globe.

If you would like more information on franchise opportunities from American Leak Detection, visit the website at: www.leakbusters.com or call the Palm Springs, California headquarters at: 760-320-9991.