Council's own leak test
Read the meter
Write down the figures, including the litre dial. Mackay's meters sit at the property boundary.
Use no water for hours
Council suggests leaving it for a number of hours; overnight is easiest.
Read it again
If the litre dial has moved, council says a leak exists.
Rule out the obvious
Check irrigation, toilets and taps. If the dials still move after that, council's advice is to get a plumber to find the leak.
Mackay tools and rules for leaks
myh2o alerts
Owners and tenants can sign up to council's myh2o website to track use and be notified of water leaks or higher than normal use.
Notices every six months
Water notices go out in May and November. The November notice covers February to August, when council notes less water may be used.
A possible concession
Council's standards say it may offer owners a financial concession when an unusually high notice is caused by a concealed leak. The details sit in its Concessions for Concealed Leaks Policy.
Pressure at the meter
Council supplies water at a minimum of 22 m head (220 kPa) at the meter, and at least 20 L/minute. A plumber can test whether your pressure drops further inside the property.
Whose leak is it?
Mackay Regional Council looks after all water infrastructure up to and including the meter. Everything after the meter, including the pipe across the yard, under the house and in the walls, is the owner's.
So a leak at the meter or in the street goes to council. A leak anywhere past it is yours to have found and fixed. The meter and the automatic meter reader beside it belong to council, and council describes the reader's usage data as supplementary: it may not always be there.
If you think the meter itself is wrong, council will test it on request for a pre-paid fee, which it refunds if the meter proves inaccurate.
How a plumber finds it
A leak detection plumber will confirm the leak at the meter, then isolate sections of pipe to narrow it down. Listening equipment picks up escaping water under pressure, and a thermal camera helps trace hot water lines in slabs and walls, so only the right spot gets opened.
In a newer home, also mention any blue or green water. Council links that to copper pipe corrosion, which it calls common in new homes, and the plumber may want to look at the pipe's condition while they're there.
Signs of a leak you can't see
- myh2o shows use you can't explain, or an alert arrives.
- The meter's litre dial turns with every tap off.
- A patch of lawn stays green or soggy in the dry season.
- Warm spots on a tiled floor, which can mean a hot water pipe in the slab.
- Water pressure that has dropped for no obvious reason.
What we would do
Sign up to myh2o today, before there's a problem, so a leak shows up in your account rather than on a six-monthly notice. If it flags something, do council's overnight meter test. Moving dials with everything off means it's time for a leak detection specialist, not a guess with a shovel. Keep the plumber's invoice and findings as the record of what was found and fixed, and read council's concealed leak policy before you apply.