Leaking plumbing

We had a leaking pipe in our PPOR back in late September last year that was leaking water towards the front of our block onto the footpath in front. I called a plumber who repaired it and it was fine.

I have now just received our new water bill and the water usage is about 2.5 times the amount we normally use. There is no way this is the amount we have knowingly used as there is just two of us and it'd be pretty obvious if we increased our use by this much.

I've looked around but can't find any leaks anywhere. I'm not sure what to do. Could it be that the previous repairs were not done properly and it's now leaking again? Or is it likely that another pipe is now leaking? I was thinking to get our water meter checked as well but don't know where to go from there if it's found to be working fine. The reading was correct. Our block is set quite high.

 

Hi Cimbom,

Is the water metre still ticking over when you have no water running eg. Are you sure it’s leaking? When your pipe was repaired, did they repair or replace? We have had a lot of plumbing issues due to the age of our house and some of the pipes that were replaced are different sized as the standards have changed. Could your leak be somewhere else? If I were you, I would probably get the same plumber back to have a look if there is a chance the issue could be somewhere else, otherwise you would hope the plumber would have some kind of warrantee over prior work. From memory, your problems were pretty recent...

Good luck,

Kassy

 

The only reason I suspect that there's a leak is due to the much higher water bill. We've been paying virtually the same amount for years. I guess I'll need to contact the plumber again and see what he says.

 

I was thinking the same as Kassy, if the property is old then you probably need to talk to a plumber about replacement of plumbing. First, though check there are no leaking taps and obvious causes.

 

We had a water leak last year as we could here water running from somewhere but no taps were on.
The meter was slowly moving around and called a plumber , who went straight to the front garden , and found the leak with one of his tools.
I asked him why he went straight to the front garden and his response was that they generally go in the first 10-15 meters of pipe off the main street line, especially if there is no obvious signs in the house ,water pooling and paintwork peeling off etc.
That part generally suffers the most corrosion and build up of deposits that weaken the pipework.
We had the whole lot replaced up to where it came into the house.

 

Bought any new appliances (washing machine, dishwasher etc)? Had visitors?

Simple test:

One evening, turn off all taps. Fill a couple of buckets of water for toilet flushing.

Take a meter reading after dinner and showers. Go to bed, don’t use any water after the meter reading (fill toilet cistern from buckets).

In the morning, before using any water, read the meter again. Any discrepancy between readings indicates a leak, amount of increase indicates the severity.

THEN call the plumber if necessary.
Marg

 

Is it possible that this bill is for the period when the water was actually leaking?

You could talk to the water provider as sometimes they just do estimates with out actually reading the meter.

 

I think I will try this but during the day when we're out of the house. Would about 8-10 hours be enough?

We don't have any new appliances and haven't had any overnight guests.

 

8-10 hours should be long enough to give you a good idea of what is going on.
Marg

 

We were out for 10 hours today and the meter was 1KL higher when we came back so it seems like there is a leak. Is there any chance that the water meter is faulty or should I just contact the plumber?

 

I’d go straight for the plumber. Ask the plumber for a letter confirming the leak and as it is your PPOR Icon will give you a discount from your water bill if you ask (we got one last year). I hope it’s not an expensive fix...

 

Yes we got that last year as well. I'm a bit annoyed it happened six months after getting the last repair though. i hope the plumber fixes it for free unless it's a completely new/separate leak

 

Did the plumber give you the option of replacing the whole front section or just repairing the leak.

 

A section of the pipe was replaced but I don't know how big the "section" was

 

Just get the plumber to come out and pressure test the whole system ,that way you will know very quickly if the system is leaking .. Finding the pressure drop location may be the last repair or a whole new leak..imho..

 

Looks like it wasn't a leak after all. He just did a pressure test and its fine. It's the water meter this time

 

I hope Icon get onto fixing the metre for you!

 

How can the meter reading change if there is not water running through it?

Tools

 

one of three things has happened

1/ the water system has a leak underground and nobody Knew

2/ the water metre is faulty ie for every 1 litre it measures 1.8L

3/ the OP has infact used the extra water

the plumber has pressure tested the system so that rules out 1/
the OP would never admit to 3/
so by a process of elimination that leaves 2/

the easy way to test the water meter is buy a cheap plastic bucket with the litres marked on the side . Get the Water meter litre reading to 0 and measure out 10 L through the front garden hose and check the water meter again .


I would also check the last few water bills and see if any on them are * estimated* icon don't read the meter every time


O

 

Lol why wouldn't I admit to it? It's a pretty huge jump if you see the graph on the bill. It's difficult to not notice that kind of usage.

Anyway, I called their faults phone line and Icon will be out to look at it in a few days. We'll see what they say. Hoping it's a straightforward quick fix for them