Leaks
How to check for a water leak at your meter
Turn off every tap and water-using appliance, then watch your water meter. If the small spinner or the last dials keep moving over two hours with everything off, water is leaking somewhere on your side of the meter. Sydney Water owns the pipes up to the meter; everything past it is the homeowner's responsibility.
Every Sydney home has a free leak detector bolted in near the front boundary: the water meter. Reading it properly takes ten minutes of effort and two hours of waiting, and it settles the question of whether water is escaping on your property with more certainty than any gadget you can buy.
Step 1: turn everything off
Close every tap inside and out, and make sure nothing is drawing water: washing machine, dishwasher, evaporative cooler, irrigation timers, fridge ice maker, and anyone about to jump in the shower. Leave the meter stop valve itself turned on, because the test only works with the supply live.
Step 2: find and read the meter
The meter usually sits in a small box or on a short riser near the front boundary. Most Sydney meters show black digits for kilolitres and red digits for litres, plus a small spinner or star wheel that turns with even the tiniest flow. Write down every digit, including the red ones.
Step 3: watch the spinner
Stand there for two full minutes with everything off. A spinner that creeps or turns steadily means water is moving through the meter right now, and you already have your answer.
Step 4: wait two hours, then read again
If the spinner looks still, note the time and use no water at all for two hours. Then read the meter again, red digits included. Even a few litres of movement with the house shut down means a leak.
What the movement means
- No movement at all: the pipes and fixtures are holding. A high bill is coming from usage habits, not leakage.
- A few litres over two hours: a slow leak, most often a toilet cistern, a weeping hot water relief valve or a dripping tap nobody notices anymore.
- Steady spinner movement: a constant leak. If nothing inside is running, the prime suspects are the underground pipe between the meter and the house, or a leak under the slab.
Whose job is the repair?
The split is simple. Sydney Water owns and maintains the main in the street and the connection up to the meter, so a leak at the meter itself or on the street side is theirs; report it and they attend at no charge. Everything from the meter to the house, and every pipe inside it, belongs to the homeowner, and repairs there are licensed plumbing work. Where a concealed leak is repaired by a licensed plumber, Sydney Water may also grant an allowance on the wasted water, so hang onto the invoice.
A moving meter with everything off is never welcome news, but it is far cheaper news at the start of a quarter than at the end of one. Modern acoustic leak location narrows a hidden leak down to less than a metre before anyone lifts a shovel, which is exactly the gear Terry brings out when a meter test comes back positive.
Frequently asked questions
- Where do I find my water meter?
- Almost always near the front boundary of the property, in a plastic or concrete box at ground level or on a short vertical pipe. In units and townhouses the meters are often grouped together, so check the number stamped on the meter matches your lot.
- What does the spinning wheel on the meter mean?
- The small spinner or star wheel registers even tiny flows that barely move the digits. If it turns while every tap and appliance in the house is off, water is passing through the meter, which means a leak somewhere on your side.
- The meter itself is leaking. Who fixes it?
- Sydney Water. The meter and everything on the street side of it are their responsibility, and they repair or replace a leaking meter at no cost. Report it to them directly; a private plumber is not allowed to work on the meter.
- How reliable is the two-hour meter test?
- Very reliable for constant leaks. It can miss intermittent ones, like a toilet valve that only leaks for a while after each flush, so if the bill stays high after a clean test, run it again overnight for a longer window.
- The meter moved but I cannot find any leak. Now what?
- That pattern points to a hidden leak underground, under the slab or in a wall. Acoustic listening equipment and pressure testing can pinpoint it without exploratory digging, which keeps both the mess and the repair bill down.
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