Do I Have A Leak?
Who’s responsible?
As a South West Water customer, you are responsible for any water leak, underground leak or burst pipe on your water supply from the boundary of your property to the property itself (see diagram below). If you are on a shared supply, all homeowners are responsible jointly from the boundary with public land for any common supply pipe, and individually for a branch pipe bringing the water in to your home.
Possible indicators of a leak
- High water bill, higher than usual, for no apparent reason
- A damp patch in the garden, on the driveway or anywhere on your land during dry weather
- The sound of running water when no water is being used
- An area of lawn which is always green, even when the rest is not
How can I check if I have a leak?
Shut off everything in the house that will be using water, especially taps, but also washing machines, dishwashers etc. Make sure that nothing in the house is on that will require water to function.
If you have one, turn off the rising main, which is usually the internal stop tap located under the kitchen sink or in the downstairs toilet/bathroom, making sure that you have turned it off completely and no water is still coming through to the taps.
Check that the cold water cistern is not filling.
Go to the meter, lift the lid and check to see if the numbered dials are turning. If they are, then you have a leak on your external water supply between the meter and the internal stop tap. If the leak is very small it may not be immediately noticeable if there is movement on the dials, so wait for a few minutes to check.
If you cannot turn off the internal stop tap then turn off all appliances, make sure that no water is going into cisterns or storage tanks and take a meter reading. Wait for about an hour and then take another. If the meter has moved it may mean you have a leak on your external water supply.
If I have a leak
Call R&D Water Engineers. We will do our best to sort your water leak or burst pipe with the minimum of fuss.
Inform South West Water
South West Water’s website has the facility to report a leak, or you can call their customer leakage team. Report a problem | South West Water
A thoughtful resinstatement
This one caught my eye as a thoughtful resinstatement carried out last week, matching the new concrete to its surroundings. It is unavoidable that we dig on your property so that we can access your pipe. But we do try to make our excavations as neat as we can, and we put everything we dig […]
Found a leak?
South West Water may help you with the cost of repairing or renewing your leaking pipe and it is worth contacting them to confirm this if you have a leak. They have recently re-vamped thei website and have published their Code of Practice on Leakage for Domestic Customers. It has very good information about what […]
Health and Safety accredited for another year
We have undertaken our annual health and safety audit with SafeContractor and have successfully completed the process again. This tells you, the paying customer, that we are responsible in our attitude to both our and your safety, that we are keenly aware of the risks involved in the work we undertake and do all we […]
