Do you know where your water meter is?

Some people will laugh but it’s a common question for us in the plumbing business and surprisingly not everyone does! Let’s talk the facts first…  

What does the water meter actually do?

It’s the connection point between your home and the city infrastructure. It measures your water usage at your property. 

A water meter is usually located outside your property on the nature strip and will be set in the ground.

But if you live in an apartment, unit or townhouse complex it could be trickier to find and you may not have individual meters for each residence.

But why should you or need to care about your water meter?

There are three reasons you need to check your water metre:

1.    Disaster strikes

Firstly, if a pipe bursts and you suddenly find yourself with an unintentional indoor-water fountain – you clearly need to stop all water flowing to house pronto…

It’s as simple as pulling your water-metre lever and turning the water off.

And wham - that fountain has stopped for the time being. (Phew) 

(But remember you will only have one flush in the toilet!) 

Now it’s time to call Al’s Plumbing to help rectify the problem.

2.    Big water bills!

If you keep getting a HUGE water bill each quarter and you can’t seem to understand why – your metre is going to help with uncovering those answers.

You may have a water leak? Leaks from pipes, plumbing fixtures and fittings can occur at any time in any property whether new, old, inside or out, above or underground.

Make sure there’s no taps running, dishwasher and washing machine are off then go check your meter.

If your metre is ticking over faster than a fish swimming downstream, you might just have a leak!

Call your plumber (we’re really good at finding these pesky leaks!)

3.    Telling you who’s responsible for a water issue!

The last reason why you should care where your water meter is understanding who is responsible for what.

Remember the water meter is the connection point between the property owner and the infrastructure. Here in Queensland that’s Urban Utilities.

If there’s an issue on your side of the water meter - it means you, the property owner, own and are responsible for any issues.

This includes all installations, repairs, maintenance and replacement of all pipes up to the water meter and the sewer connection point.

If the problem is detected on this side, you need to call a plumber to rectify the problem.

Urban Utilities are responsible for the water meter itself and all pipes leading away from the property.

If the problem is detected in these pipes it is their responsibility to fix it.

Sometimes though it’s tricky to work out where the problem is.

Here at Al’s we’re really good at problem solving and if the issue does end up being on the infrastructure side, we work really well with Urban Utilities to find a solution and make sure the bill (the most important part) goes to the right party!

So, if in doubt, just call Al’s Plumbing and we can always help guide you through any situation even if it is just trying to find your water meter!