The City's meter test
Turn everything off
Every tap, the washing machine, dishwasher, irrigation and pool top-up. Don't flush the toilet.
Read the meter
Your meter is usually near the front of the block, close to the left or right boundary. Write down or photograph the reading. If the dials are already moving, water is escaping somewhere.
Wait an hour
Use no water for at least an hour, longer if you can, then read it again. The numbers only move when water passes through the meter.
Check the toilets separately
A cistern can leak only when the button sticks. Put a few drops of food colouring in the cistern and watch whether colour appears in the bowl.
Gold Coast rules that change a leak job
The meter is the line
The City repairs leaks in its supply system up to and including your meter. Pipes and fittings on the property side of the meter tail are the owner's, and so is the water they lose.
Some relief for hidden leaks
City of Gold Coast offers concealed water leak remission to residential and small business customers who meet its conditions. It offers some relief, not for every leak, and the conditions are strict: see below.
Trees over pipes
The City advises against planting large trees over pipes and mains on your property, because root growth may damage them.
High pressure stresses pipes
The City keeps mains pressure below 900 kPa to cut leaks and bursts. Inside a building the limit is 500 kPa, which is why newer homes may have a pressure reduction valve on their side of the meter.
Concealed leak remission: read this before the repair
The City's remission applies only to a leak in the underground supply pipe that runs from where water enters your property to the first building. Leaks in pools, taps, toilets, irrigation and fixtures don't qualify.
As a minimum, a Queensland licensed plumber must repair it within one month of the leak being found, and you need their tax invoice. At least 50 kilolitres must have been lost. You then take two meter readings a week apart to show the repair worked, and apply within three months of the rate notice.
There are exclusions too. No building or construction work on the property in the six months before, no leak caused by digging, and no remission for the same property in the past three years. Ask the plumber to note on the invoice exactly where the leak was.
How a leak specialist narrows it down
A plumber will start where you did, at the meter, then isolate parts of the system to see where the flow stops. Listening gear, pressure tests and a thermal camera help them find the spot before anything is opened up.
If your water tastes of chemicals, that's a different problem. City of Gold Coast says chemicals spilled in the yard can soak through polyethylene water service pipes. More on our hidden leaks page and high water bill guide.
Questions for the leak plumber
- Is the leak in the underground pipe between the meter and the house, or somewhere else?
- Can you write the exact location on the tax invoice, with your licence number?
- Can you repair it within the month, so I can apply for remission?
- Is my pressure too high, and do I have a pressure reduction valve?
What we would do
Do the meter test tonight, before you call anyone. If the numbers move with everything off, book a leak specialist quickly, because the remission clock starts when you find the leak, and it has to be repaired within a month. Keep the meter photos, the plumber's invoice and the two follow-up readings together. If the leak turns out to be a toilet or a tap, it won't qualify for remission.