1000L Per Day Water Usage... New Home on a Slab I have a leak. What Now?

Hello All.

I got my water bill today for the last 3 months. To much surprise it was $600. Totaling an average of 1050L of water usage per day...

I thought this is crazy. No way im using that much water.

So I went to made sure that all my faucets/taps were off and I went to my meter to check.. It was moving... So I have a leak somewhere I guess.

I bought my home last year. Its a new build and there are 4 properties on the block all with separate meters. House is on a Slab. No visible areas in the home where I can see any sort of leaks/water patches where a leak may be occuring

I called the water company to inform them and they said contact the builder to reach out to the plumbers that did the water at the property.

I have called the builder who told me to call/email the plumbing company and CC him in the email trail. Wasnt able to talk to anyone as it was late in the evening and the plumping contractor was out of business hours. I sent them and email and and Im going to follow up a call tomorrow.

Has anyone delt with this before? Im assuming all the work relating to this will be covered under a warranty of sorts yes? Im in Melbourne

Thanks!

 

You are in Melbourne where is the property ?

 

In the Northern Suburbs. Merlynston

 

I had a similar problem in a unit I owned. Water costs for the block went from $800 to $4K per quarter!

I only found out about it when strata rang me and said there wasn’t enough money to pay the bill. What the!

I checked the water meter and it was spinning like crazy day and night. I couldn’t find a leak anywhere.

Got a plumber who reckon there was a broken pipe under the slab. I then did recall that the concrete floor in the garages seemed to be discoloured but thought nothing of it.

The plumber fills out a special form and we only got a reduction of a bill. Only about 50% reduction.

 

This happened to us over Christmas!
So really tough to find a plumber. We turned off the water except for 1 couple of hours in the morning and in the evening so we could use the bathroom and kitchen and had to rio up some of the driveway to get to the leak.

Fixed now luckily. It’s a massive pain

 

The builder should be doing the running around, the plumber was their contractor. They must take responsibility.

 

If its a new home send the BUILDER a written claim. They are obliged to fix it. They can send their subby or anyone else they like but its their license. Their insurance. Their legal obligation. Of course they wont settle much of the water cost loss (remember a water bill also includes all consumption, sewer and fixed service fees).

The claim should address immediate rectification and the consumption charged for water use.

Sounds like the slab will need some concrete cutting which will sound worse then it is. Saws not jackhammers. They they will break the concere away inside the cut. Plumbers can disgnose leaks through damp using a meter and narrow it down. Still a case of "looking"will be messy but should be a easy fix when found. Make sure any termite barrier is also remediated. They will also reinstate reo and repair concrete. Maybe a day ...or two. All that is BUILDING work, not plumbing. They will have a plumber find and fix the break.

 

Plumbers came out today. The leak has been found! It was at the entry point from the driveway to my property. The Pex joining bit was all messup and smashed.

The put a new joiner on and the meter stopped!

So glad it wasnt under my property in the slab or anywhere in my home