The water meter tap
A leak has a side, and the meter is where you read it
The water authorities divide the property at the meter, or at the valve nearest the boundary, each in its own sentence. Reading the meter overnight is the test three of them print, and five of them print a route to money back on the bill once a leak is found and fixed.
General information only: the authority linked for your own property is the one that decides where its side of the meter ends.
Guide 6 of 7.
The line, authority by authority
Each water authority states where its responsibility stops, and each uses a slightly different landmark. The table sets them side by side, in their own terms.
| Authority | Its side | The owner’s side |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney Water (NSW) | Owns the water meter and replaces it periodically to keep it accurate, and makes free repairs to collapsed private wastewater pipes where the collapse is inside a footpath or roadway. It may repair the water pipe connecting the property to its system if the problem is less than one metre inside the property. | A property owner is responsible for the whole private service except the water meter, and the private service starts at the point of connection to the main; a private plumber can be engaged at the owner’s cost for any part of it, even between the main and a meter inside the boundary. The owner maintains the pipes and fittings on the property up to where they connect to the water, wastewater and stormwater networks. |
| Icon Water (ACT) | Responsible for repairing leaking meters and leaks in the network that delivers water to the meter; if a plumber finds a problem on the Icon Water network, the number is 02 6248 3111. | The owner calls a private plumber if water is leaking from a pipe on their side, downstream of the meter. If the meter is continuing to register usage, it is likely an internal leak, and a licensed plumber should be contacted immediately. |
| TasWater (TAS) | Responsible for leaks between the connection point and the water mains, and responsible for maintaining pipes from the main to the customer’s connection point. The connection point is the meter, or the first valve closest to the property boundary. | A leak on the property between the connection point and the home is the owner’s responsibility to repair. For sewerage, the pipe from the connection point to the house, usually at the inspection opening, is the private service line and the customer’s responsibility. |
| Water Corporation (WA) | The water mains tap, or shutoff valve, sits near the water meter, which is typically near the verge or along the outside of the property; if the tap still will not close, Water Corporation’s own number is 13 13 75. | The tap is the householder’s first tool in a leak: Water Corporation’s steps say to turn it to the close position clockwise, and if it will not close to try anticlockwise first to break the seal and then back clockwise. |
| SA Water (SA) | Looks after any leaks between the water main and the meter and sends someone to assess and repair the issue; the number is 1300 SA WATER (1300 729 283). The water meter remains SA Water’s property, and only authorised personnel may inspect, maintain, repair or replace it. | The authority asks householders not to try to fix or interfere with the meter themselves. |
| Central Coast Council (NSW) | Responsible for the water meter, the meter tap and the pipes and inspection points leading to the point of connection. | The owner installs, maintains and repairs all pipes and fittings from the point of connection with the water meter, keeps a clear area of at least 50 centimetres around each side of the meter and 120 centimetres above it, and engages a licensed plumber at their own cost for a leak or a water tank or hot water system problem. |
The worked example: the overnight meter test
The meter decides most of these questions, and three authorities print the same test for using it. The ACT’s utility spells it out: note the numbers last thing at night, reading the black figures as kilolitres and the red as litres, then check again the next morning before any water is used, and if the numbers have changed with no water used there may be a leak. Water Corporation’s version takes an hour or a night: take a reading, wait, take another, and if the dial has changed despite no water being used there may be a leak. Its shorter test is a threshold: if water usage per hour is greater than zero, there may be a leak. Queensland’s advice for homes in flood and cyclone affected areas is the blunt version for covered pipework: turn off all the taps and check the meter.
What the dial does next says who to call. Queensland’s advice for homes in flood and cyclone affected areas: if the dial is still turning, there may be a broken pipe, and a licensed plumber is the person to do the repairs. WA: if there is a leak, the water meter will move. One act is ruled out in every case: Queensland’s legislation makes it an offence for a person to tamper with a water meter at all.
The house itself can also answer before the meter does. South Australia lists the outdoor signs: damp soil, unusually green patches of grass, or wet paths in brickwork or concrete may indicate a leak outside the home, while damp, warped or discoloured walls, floors or carpets can suggest a concealed leak indoors. The ACT’s list of what to look at includes garden taps, hoses and sprinklers, hot water systems and air conditioning units, and green or damp patches around the property and under the house.
What comes back on the bill
Every authority here that prints a leak policy also prints something for the bill. In NSW, if a licensed plumber or qualified technician finds and repairs a hidden leak, the owner can apply for a hidden leak allowance on the bill. In the ACT, a householder who has experienced an undetected water leak may be eligible for a one-off adjustment of water consumption charges. In WA, Water Corporation’s leak page, in its section for small to medium-sized businesses, says that once a licensed plumber has fixed the leak it may be able to offer a leak allowance to help reduce charges.
Two states put a figure on it. SA Water says a customer whose bill has risen because of a leak may be eligible for a one-time allowance that covers up to 50 per cent of the water lost. TasWater may provide a rebate of up to 50 per cent of the water usage amount over the average bill where the leak is concealed, and to claim it the customer needs written evidence that the leak was repaired by a licensed plumber, with the concealed water leak remission form.
For a leak that turns out to be the authority’s, the ACT prints the reimbursement route: if the fault is confirmed to be on the Icon Water network, the authority asks for the plumber’s invoice to be submitted to it for consideration for reimbursement. And a water main on private land is one to phone in rather than plumb: a small number of Icon Water mains traverse private land, and a suspected burst is the 24-hour faults and emergency team’s on 02 6248 3111.
The same line, drawn in gas
Gas meters divide responsibility the same way. Australian Gas Networks, as the distributor, is responsible for work on the gas meter and the gas distribution network, including the street mains and the pipework connecting them to the meter, and repairs any leak on the meter or the network at its own cost; the owner is responsible for the gas installation, and a gas leak between the meter and the appliances is a licensed gas fitter’s to repair. Tas Gas Networks draws its line the same way: leaks associated with the meter and the pipework the distributor is responsible for are the distributor’s to fix, and leaks between the meter and the property, and inside it, are the owner’s, to be fixed by a licensed gas fitter. The gas guide on this site takes that line further. Tas Gas Networks’ emergency page is where that state prints its own version of it.
Read next: How hot should the hot tap be? · Why does a garden hose need backflow protection?
Back to the whole drawing, on the generalplumbing.com.au home page