Checking for leaks

A leak on your property can waste thousands of litres of water, at considerable cost to you.   If your water bill unexpectedly increases but your water usage patterns have not changed, it could mean you have a leak. However before you check for leaks please consider the following:

• Have we read your meter correctly? Please read your meter to ensure that the current reading is either equal to, or slightly higher than the reading noted on your most recent bill. If the current reading is less than what you have been invoiced for please contact us. If not:
  
  
• Consider, has there been a recent increase in the number of people in your household/business? If yes, that could contribute to an increase in water usage. If no, it is possible you have an undetected leak
  
  
• Also consider - Are you being charged for the correct meter? Shut off the tap for your water meter and run an external tap until the water flow stops. Once the water flow stops close the external tap and re-open the tap at the meter and begin the leak test. If the water flow does not stop, there could be a number of reasons for this.  Please contact Metrowater.

An overnight test will help you tell if you have a leak.

Read your water meter last thing at night, then first thing in the morning. (Make sure you don’t use any water during the night.)  Any water the meter shows is being used is probably being lost through leakage.

Does your meter have a fourth red digit? Don’t worry - ignore it. Just count the three digits to the right.

Here’s an example: Last night, the meter showed 3746.285. Then, in the morning, it reads 3746.310. The difference between them is 0.025 m3 (or 25 litres). This gives the volume of water "lost" overnight. Keep a check on the time so you can work out how much water is lost each hour.

If you have a leak

If you do an overnight test and think that you may have a leak, you’ll need to  contact a licensed plumber to find and repair the leak for you. Do it as soon as you can, to save money and reduce water wastage.

Once the leak has been fixed, you can forward us your receipt for the plumbing work and we may be able to make some adjustment to your volume charges. See leak remission.

Testing your meter

If you’ve ruled out all other possibilities for higher than usual water consumption charges, and have confirmed that there are no leaks at your property, you can apply to have your water meter tested.

There’s a fee for meter testing, related to the size of the meter. Once paid, your old meter will be replaced with a new one. We’ll take your old meter away and put through a number of tests to measure its accuracy.

If your meter measures correctly within + or - 2%, it will be deemed to be accurate and there will be no adjustment to the volume charges that you were billed.

If your meter over reads by more than 2%, then the meter test fee will be refunded  and some adjustment may be made to the volume charges for the period that the meter was deemed to be faulty.