Guide

How to read your water meter and check for a leak

Twenty minutes, costs nothing, and it settles the question.
Do this before you pay anyone to look.

A bill that jumped is the most common reason people ring about a leak, and it is also the easiest thing to confirm yourself. Your meter is a complete record of every litre entering the property. If it moves while nothing is running, you have a leak, and you will know that in twenty minutes without spending anything.

The test

The twenty minute check

1 Turn everything offEvery tap, the dishwasher, the washing machine, the irrigation, the pool filler, the ice maker. Everything that uses water, including anything on a timer.
2 Find the meter and read itFront boundary, in a box in the ground. Write down every digit, including the ones after the decimal point and the position of the small spinning dial.
3 Wait twenty minutesNobody uses water. Not a tap, not a toilet. If somebody else is home, tell them.
4 Read it againIf a single digit has changed, or the small dial has moved at all, water is passing through the meter with nothing turned on. That is a leak on your side.
5 For the certain version, do it overnightRead it last thing at night and again before anyone gets up. A slow leak that barely moves in twenty minutes is unmistakable over eight hours.

Reading it

What the numbers actually mean

Meters vary, but almost all of them show the same things in the same way.

The big digitsKilolitres. One kilolitre is a thousand litres. These are what Sydney Water bills you on, and they move slowly.

The digits after the decimalLitres, usually in a red or differently coloured section. A household uses a few hundred of these a day.

The small spinning dialThe leak detector, effectively. It turns with even a trickle, so it is the most sensitive thing on the meter and the first thing to watch.

A black triangle or starSome meters have one that spins on tiny flows. If it is turning with everything off, that is as clear as it gets.

Whose side is whoseEverything from the meter into the house is yours. Before the meter, in the street, is Sydney Water’s.

Compare to your billYour last bill shows your average daily use. If the meter says you are now using far more and nothing has changed in the household, that gap is the leak.

Narrow it down

If the meter moves, check these first

Three things account for most household leaks, and two of them you can check yourself in five minutes.

Toilet cisterns. Put a few drops of food colouring in the cistern, wait fifteen minutes, and look in the bowl. Colour in the bowl means the outlet seal is leaking
The hot water system. Look for water or a rust stain underneath, and check whether the relief valve is running constantly
Irrigation and garden taps, including anything on a timer you have forgotten about
The pool, if you have one. Mark the water level and check it in 24 hours
Outside taps and hose fittings, which drip quietly behind a garden bed for years
Under every sink and vanity, for damp, staining or a weeping flexi hose

The money

You may not have to pay for the water

Sydney Water has a concession for concealed leaks. If a leak you could not reasonably have known about is found and repaired by a licensed plumber, you can apply to have part of the excess water charge written off. It is not automatic, it has conditions and time limits, and it needs the plumber’s details and the repair date.

Almost nobody knows it exists, which means almost nobody claims it. We give you the paperwork for it without being asked, whether or not you knew to ask.

Insurance is the other half. Many home policies cover the damage a hidden leak causes and the reasonable cost of locating it, while not covering the failed pipe itself. So the opened wall, the floor and the contents are often claimable even where the repair is not.

Which means the order matters. Confirm it, find it, document it, then fix it. Fixing it first and asking questions afterwards is how people end up paying for all three.

Questions

Questions people ask about this

How long should I leave the water off to test for a leak?

Four hours with nothing running at all is the minimum. Overnight is better, because a slow leak moves the dial so little that a short test can look like nothing. Write the reading down before and after rather than trusting your memory.

Which dial on the water meter shows a leak?

The small triangle or star shaped indicator, not the big digits. It is built to spin on flows far too small to move the main numbers, which is exactly what a hidden leak looks like.

The meter is moving but I cannot find any water. Where is it?

Usually one of four places: the underground service line between the meter and the house, under a slab, inside a wall cavity, or a toilet passing silently into the pan. None of those show on the surface until there is real damage.

How do I check whether the toilet is the leak?

Put a few drops of food colouring in the cistern and do not flush. Come back in twenty minutes. If there is colour in the pan, the outlet valve is passing and the toilet is your leak.

Is a leak on my property my problem or Sydney Water problem?

Everything on your side of the meter is yours. If it turns out to be a genuinely hidden leak you have been billed for, it is worth asking Sydney Water about a leak allowance, because they do consider them case by case.

While we are there

Other things we get called for

Leak detection Acoustic and camera detection finds it first. Then you decide what gets opened, rather… Taps and toilets Washers, cartridges, mixers, cisterns and seals. Small jobs done properly, and still no call… Hot water Same day hot water repairs across Sydney.Element, thermostat, valve and gas supply tested first.… Emergency plumbing Ring and Angelo answers, whatever the hour. He will tell you what to turn…

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