Locating and reading your meter

Firstly locate your meter box, this should have a blue plastic lid and be close to the property boundary with the road. Once located remove the blue lid with a suitable tool to uncover your water meter.

Your meter will be either be a Smart Meter, which is a yellow meter with a LCD display as below

…or it will be a Analog Meter as below

Reading your meter

Smart Mater

Locate the LCD display, this could be under a plastic flap. Read the large numbers on the top line, these represent cubic meters (m3, 1000 litres or kiloliters), this is what you are invoiced on, the three smaller numbers on the right represent less than a cubic meter.

Analog Meter

The display is covered with a grey plastic flap. The black numbers with a white background represents cubic meters (m3, 1000 litres or kiloliters), this is what you are invoiced on. The white numbers on the red background represent less than a cubic meter.

In the picture above, the reading is 35 m3.

Ascertaining if you have a water leak

Has there been a change to the water use or in the number of occupants lately?

If this is not the case, it may be that you have a leak.

Smart Meter

• Pick a time when no water is being used

• look at the numbers on the bottom right of the display, this is the flow of water which should be zero if no water is being used.

Analog Meter

Please find below a guide from Watercare to ascertain if you have a leak or not.

A simple test will help confirm if you have a leak:

• Pick a time when no water will be used for at least four hours – overnight is a good time.

• Read your water meter then read it again after the period of not using any water. The meter is usually located on your property boundary beside your driveway in a box with a removable blue plastic lid. Make sure you don’t use any water during the test. DO NOT turn off the tap on the meter during the test - you need to be able to see if the meter dial still moves while you are not using water, as this helps indicate a leak. For example, if you do an overnight test, you would read your meter at night before bed, then again the first thing in the morning. 

• If the meter numbers are higher, this shows that water is being used and it is likely you have a leak.

• Read all the numbers on the dial (black and red squares). 

• The example below shows that about 25 litres of water were used during the night. This indicates a leak.  

How to check for obvious leaks

• Look for dripping taps.

• Look behind your dishwasher and washing machine for any signs of water.

• Check your toilet cisterns. Put a few drops of food colouring in the cistern. If colour ends up in the toilet bowl without flushing, you have a leak.

• See if the hot water cylinder expansion relief valve is letting water drip into the gully trap.

• In dry weather, look for damp patches in the garden, lawn or driveway.

• Listen for running water inside your home when no taps, hoses or showers are turned on.

What if I can’t find any leaks?

If your meter dial is moving and no water has been used, you may need to call a registered plumber to check further.

Also inside the meter box there usually is a red or blue tap or lever, this is used to shut off water to the house to stop any leak (or if the kids are too long in the shower)