Drone Leak Investigation · Vancouver Island
Reservoir & Dam Seepage Detection in Courtenay, BC
Thermal and visual reconnaissance of earthen dams, dikes, reservoirs, and embankments — seepage exit points, wet zones on downstream faces, and anomalous vegetation mapped without crews walking unstable slopes. Flown by Transport Canada-certified RPAS pilots and confirmed by the ground crews serving Courtenay and the Vancouver Island region — since 1999 as BC's leak detection specialists.
Free phone consult · No pressure · Mon–Sat 8am–6pm PT
Flying Courtenay: local context
Valley agriculture plus growing subdivisions; Comox (YQQ) military airspace nearby is handled per authorization.
Local property profile: Valley farm parcels, growing retirement subdivisions, and a compact riverside downtown.
Ground conditions: Outwash terraces scan deep and clean; river-flat parcels run seasonally wet. Agricultural legacy piping is common across the valley floor.
Typical reservoir & dam seepage detection work around Courtenay
- Farm building scans
- Subdivision roof QA
- Earthen dams and saddle dams
- Dikes and flood-protection embankments
- Water supply and irrigation reservoirs
How the Courtenay survey runs
- 1
Structure briefing
Drawings, prior inspection reports, and known wet areas frame the survey. We coordinate with the owner's dam-safety engineer so the data lands inside their existing surveillance program.
- 2
Thermal face mapping
Groundwater and seepage water hold a stable temperature year-round while surfaces swing with the weather — exit points and wet zones contrast clearly in the right window. The full downstream face, abutments, and toe are mapped in one flight.
- 3
Visual + vegetation pass
High-resolution visual imagery captures the classic secondary indicators: preferentially green vegetation strips, cattail colonisation, soft-ground texture, and animal-burrow activity along the toe.
- 4
Georeferenced report
Thermal anomalies and visual indicators plotted on the structure, compared against any previous survey, and delivered in a format your engineer-of-record can take straight into the surveillance file.
Courtenay questions, answered
How does thermal imaging find seepage on a dam?
Seepage water originates underground, where temperature is stable — roughly 8–12 °C in much of BC — while the embankment surface follows air temperature. In warm weather a seep reads cold against the face; in cold snaps it reads warm. Flown in the right contrast window, exit points and saturated zones stand out measurably, including early-stage wet areas a walking inspection can miss.
Does this replace our dam safety inspections?
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. BC dam owners operate under the Dam Safety Regulation with defined surveillance obligations run by their engineer-of-record. What we provide is reconnaissance data — full-face, repeatable, georeferenced — that makes those inspections better targeted, and a safe way to look at faces and toes that are hazardous to walk.
Can you survey dikes and flood embankments too?
Yes — linear flood-protection works are ideal drone subjects: long, uniform, and tedious to walk. Kilometres of dike face and toe are mapped per flight day, with anomalies geotagged for follow-up. Post-freshet and post-storm baselines are the common triggers in BC.
Can you legally fly drone leak surveys in Courtenay?
Yes — our pilots hold Transport Canada RPAS certification with advanced-operations capability, and Courtenay flights run under whatever airspace authorizations the location requires. Valley agriculture plus growing subdivisions; Comox (YQQ) military airspace nearby is handled per authorization. Flight planning, NOTAM checks, and authorizations are part of the service, not your problem.
How do Courtenay ground conditions affect what the survey reads?
Courtenay ground is predominantly Comox Valley alluvium and glacial outwash. Outwash terraces scan deep and clean; river-flat parcels run seasonally wet. Agricultural legacy piping is common across the valley floor. For buried-leak work that matters: escaping water changes the moisture and thermal behaviour of exactly that ground, and our analysts interpret the surface signal against the local soil character — then our acoustic ground crews confirm the suspect zones before anyone digs.
What does reservoir & dam seepage detection cost in Courtenay?
Province-wide pricing — no regional premium for Courtenay. Single-site surveys typically start in the high hundreds; network corridors, portfolios, and multi-asset programs are quoted by scope. The free phone consult (604-239-9934) produces a firm number in about five minutes.
Other drone leak services in Courtenay
Stormwater Pond & Outfall Leak Survey in Courtenay
Detention ponds, retention facilities, outfalls, and culverts surveyed for exfiltration, berm seepage, and bypass flow — the drainage infrastructure nobody can see failing until something downstream floods or erodes.
View serviceUnderground Water Main Leak Survey in Courtenay
Aerial thermal screening of buried water mains and service corridors — kilometres of distribution line surveyed per flight, leak-suspect zones mapped for targeted ground confirmation. The screening layer that shrinks non-revenue water programs from guesswork to a short list.
View serviceWater Tank & Standpipe Leak Inspection in Courtenay
Municipal reservoirs, standpipes, elevated tanks, and rooftop tanks inspected by drone — shell weeps, overflow malfunction, wet insulation, saturated foundations, and coating failure documented without ladders, lifts, or confined-space entry.
View serviceAerial Moisture Orthomosaic Mapping in Courtenay
The deliverable layer: survey-grade, georeferenced moisture orthomosaics — radiometric thermal fused with RTK photogrammetry — exported to CAD and GIS for engineers, consultants, and owners who need leak evidence they can measure from.
View service← All about reservoir & dam seepage detection·Drone leak investigation hub·drone.leak.ca
Reservoir & Dam Seepage Detection near Courtenay
Need reservoir & dam seepage detection in Courtenay?
Free phone consult — site, access, airspace, and a firm quote in five minutes. No pressure.