Let's say a leakage of 5 liters/day from a tank of 10.000 liters capacity, could be not detected at all. But, if the sensor is sensitive enough, vibration coming from any mechanism in the vicinity could affect level measurement.
In a tanker vessel, I had the chance to be inside of a cargo tank, half full of ballast. It was easy to perceive the effect on the surface, from someone hammering something on main deck maybe some 10 or 20 meters away from the access.
In tankers, ultrasound (is sometimes used). There is also the technique to detect the water-fuel interface.
The most common I have seen, for rough measurements in tanks ashore, are of the float type.
Google "radar".