Leak Detection in Scarborough
Need leak detection in Scarborough? Our licensed plumbers trace hidden leaks from the meter to the tap, then quote the fix before anything gets opened. The sea air here pushes corrosion well past the beachfront, so a weeping brass joint can hide for months in a wall near the Presbyterian church on Jeays Street.
If we're late, $100 comes off your bill
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Some leaks show themselves. Others stay silent until a bill lands, and those are the ones that cost the most. This page covers the signs, the meter test and the bill rules: what a leak looks like, how to prove one exists, and how our Scarborough team narrows the search to the exact pipe.
What a Wet Patch or High Bill Is Telling You
The signs sort by place: at the meter, inside the house and outside in the garden. Watch for these:
- The meter dial creeping while every tap in the place is shut.
- Damp or discoloured patches on a wall or ceiling, a musty smell, and paint or timber that swells or peels.
- A floor that stays warm in one spot, with no heater anywhere near it.
- Ground that stays wet, or a patch of lawn outgrowing everything around it.
- A bill that climbs with no change in how the household uses water.
Every drop the meter counts goes on your bill, which is why a silent leak is the expensive kind. A weeping joint inside a wall or under a slab can sit there for months before anything shows.
Concealed Leak Rules for Your Water Bill
A concealed leak, hidden from view somewhere past the meter on your land, can earn a bill adjustment when the repair meets the utility's rules. Unitywater sets those rules, and the conditions are specific:
- The leak sat underground, inside concrete or under a building, in a spot a careful owner would never think to check.
- The repair landed inside 30 calendar days of you learning about it, and it was built to last rather than a stopgap.
- The claim goes in writing with our invoice attached, or a statutory declaration where the owner did the repair.
- The claim must reach Unitywater within 12 months, counted from the repair date, and at most two quarters can be adjusted.
- Leaking taps, toilet cisterns, hot water systems and similar appliances sit outside the rules, along with sprinklers, garden watering and any pond or pool feature.
One tenancy wrinkle is worth knowing. When the utility alerts a renter about a possible leak, the owner or their agent is on notice from that day.
Under a community titles scheme with sub-metered lots, the lot owner handles a leak inside the lot. Common land goes to the body corporate.
Is the Leak on Your Side of the Meter
Test it this way: with every water-using thing switched off, record the meter, leave it at least one hour, then read it again. A shift in the numbers or the dial flags a leak on your side, because everything past the meter onto the land is yours to maintain.
Shut off the hose, laundry machines, the dishwasher, any fridge with a water line and all garden watering. Leave the small tap at the meter itself turned on.
The result splits three ways:
- The numbers moved: water is escaping on your land, and that is where a licensed plumber comes in.
- The numbers held: usage or an appliance explains the bill rather than a hidden leak.
- Water stands inside the meter box: the fault sits at or near the meter, which is the utility's to fix.
Soil helps too. Soil that stays wet while the dial sits still hides a fault in the utility's pipe; the same wet patch with the dial creeping means the loss sits on your land.
From Meter Reading to the Exact Pipe
We work in a set order: prove the leak at the meter, divide the run into sections, pressure-test each section, then close in on the fault before anything is opened. Whichever section drops in pressure holds the leak.
From there we follow the pipe itself. We listen along the pipe or against a wall for the noise of escaping water, and moisture readings taken in walls, floors and subfloor timber show the path the water travels.
Age steers the search on the older streets. The branch lines off the clay mains are earthenware around the older blocks off Scarborough Road. Those joints crack with age, so a slow seep there can quietly feed a green patch for months.
A leak buried under a driveway can waste an enormous volume of water each day before anything shows. That is why we prove the location first, and why a burst supply line needs the urgent response on our burst pipe repairs page rather than this one.
Worn joints, corroded pipe and split lines sit under water pipe repairs, and a weepy braided connector under a bench goes to flexi hose replacement.
How Your Leak Detection Visit Runs
- 1
Call or message us
Ring (07) 3523 6484 or use the form and describe what's going on in Scarborough. A few details up front mean the right gear comes on the first trip.
- 2
Confirm and trace
We shut the water down, work through the run one section at a time, and check each section for pressure loss until the fault sits in one spot. Only then does anything come apart.
- 3
Fixed quote, then the work
We give you a fixed quote before any work starts. It's flat-rate pricing with no hidden fees, and we only start once you approve it.
- 4
Settle up your way
Card and EFTPOS payment on site when the job's finished, or Fix now, pay later if that suits you better.
Plumbing job in Scarborough?
$0 call-out fees, available 24/7, and same-day where we can.
Questions About Hidden Leaks
Call (07) 3523 6484How do I check for a hidden water leak at home?
Shut off every tap and water-using appliance, note the meter's numbers including the red digits, and keep the meter's own stop tap open. After at least one hour with nothing drawing water, read the meter again. Any shift means water escaped somewhere it should not have, and a licensed plumber can chase it down.
How long should the water meter test run?
Run the meter test for at least one hour, with nothing on the property drawing water for the whole wait. Every tap and appliance that uses water stays off, from the dishwasher and laundry machines to a fridge with its own line. A longer wait only sharpens the reading.
How much does leak detection cost in Scarborough?
The quote turns on access and the pipe run: under a wall, a slab or open ground, how many sections need testing, and the method each calls for. You get the price in writing as a fixed quote before we begin.
Will the water utility reduce my bill for a hidden leak?
Yes, when the leak counts as concealed under Unitywater's rules. It must sit out of sight on your side of the connection, be repaired within 30 calendar days of the discovery, and the claim needs our invoice as the licensed plumbers on the job. Leaking taps, toilets and ordinary appliances never qualify.
Why is my water bill suddenly so high?
A leak is one cause, because a leak draws water around the clock, whether anyone is home or not. Run the meter test to tell a leak apart from ordinary household use. If the reading shifts with everything shut down, ring (07) 3523 6484 and we will trace where the water goes.
Call Us About the Leak You Cannot SeeWe'll call you back.
Ring (07) 3523 6484 and tell us what's wrong. You get $0 call-out fees, a fixed quote before any work starts and same-day where we can, 7 days a week.
To claim your $0 call-out fee, call (07) 3523 6484 today.