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Ways to save water – Got a water leak? who fixes it?

Author: Graham Mann, Water Audit Expert.

Your water bills show high water consumption and you suspect a water leak between the water companies meter and where your water supply enters your property, how do you ascertain whether there is a water leak on the supply pipe?

Normally as the water pipe enters the property there is an isolation valve just inside the point of entry, if you have a 50mm (2″) water supply the valve may look similar to the link below.

50mm(2″) isolation valve. Isolationvalve

Slowly turn the valve off, when you fell the valve is fully closed by checking the first cold water draw off point then check the flow on the water meter as per the picture below.

Water meter.

You may note there are two water meters, the largest dial is to measure high water flow, the smaller meter measures low flow normally referred to as a by-pass meter. If the meters are registering flow there is a water leak between the meter and the point of entry to the building.

Who fixes the water leak? Dependent on the location of the water meter the customer is usually liable for all water used or lost due to water leakage, however there are many water leaks that are not the responsibility of the customer for instance: –

If the meter is in the public highway either a road or pavement and the leak is between the meter and the boundary of the site the water company are not only liable for repairs but also should refund all the water and waste water charges attributed to the leak. Water companies do not tend to tell you that if it therefore a little known fact and many companies are footing the bill and losing out.

We managed a case recently where a national builders merchant had high water consumption and the water company wrote to the customer requesting immediate leak detection and repair. We dispatched our water leak detection engineers who reported that the leak was on the fittings within the meter chamber, several weeks later the leaks were fixed with no offer of a refund, the case concluded where we applied for a full refund and £ 30,000 has been returned back to the customer.

Got a water leak? TIP – Google search The water audit experts – Water audit experts – Water bill consultants – Water bill consultancy.