A meter check you can do tonight
Find the meter
Council says meters are usually in line with the front boundary. Clear away anything covering it.
Learn the dials
Black digits show kilolitres, each one 1,000 litres. Red digits show single litres. Your bill only records the black ones.
Turn everything off
All taps, the washing machine, the dishwasher, irrigation and any tank pump. Note the red digits, then leave the water unused for a while, ideally overnight.
Read it again
If the red digits have moved while nothing was running, water is escaping somewhere on the property.
Central Coast leak facts
Where Council's part ends
Council is responsible for the meter, the meter tap and the pipes and inspection points leading to your point of connection. Every pipe and fitting on the property from that point is the owner's.
Old galvanised pipe
Council says galvanised pipes, usually found in homes built before the mid-1960s, rust inside with age, and it recommends replacing old corroded pipe with copper, stainless steel or polyethylene.
Some leaks are big
Leaks hidden in underground pipes or faulty fixtures, such as a leaking toilet, can go unnoticed for a long time. Council says some waste more than 2000 litres a day.
Bills come quarterly
Council reads meters every quarter, so a leak can run for months before a bill shows it. Reading the meter yourself between bills catches it sooner.
What a leak specialist does
A plumber who specialises in leak detection will first rule out the obvious: toilets, taps, the hot water relief valve, irrigation. Then they isolate sections of pipe and test them, and use listening or thermal equipment to narrow the leak down before anything is dug up. Ask what they found and why the repair is the size it is.
If the leak is under paving or near Council's pipes, raise it with Council before excavating: its charter asks owners not to dig over or beside its infrastructure without speaking to it first. Repairs end with a certificate of compliance, and Council inspects plumbing work on the Central Coast.
When the bill has already arrived
Finding and fixing the leak is the owner's job. Council can help customers in financial hardship who have had a concealed leak, under its Concealed Leak Policy, and a claim describes the leak, its likely cause and the extra water used. A leak that doesn't meet the policy's requirements won't get help under it.
If the leak was caused by Council's own work, such as a meter installed incorrectly, Council says an adjustment may be made after it investigates. Keep the plumber's report either way. Our high water bill page explains the usual causes.
What we would do
Do the overnight meter check before you book anyone. If the red digits move, turn off the water to toilets one at a time to rule them out, then call a leak detection specialist and ask for a written finding you can attach to a Concealed Leak Policy claim if you need one. In an older home, ask whether galvanised pipe is part of the story, since Council itself recommends replacing it.