Who to hire for a water bill that suddenly doubled

Short answer

A licensed plumber, ideally one who does leak detection with acoustic or thermal equipment rather than by excavation. Before you ring, do the meter test — it takes fifteen minutes, costs nothing, and turns a suspicion into a fact the plumber can work from.

Soon, not tonightIt will not usually get cheaper by waiting, and it is rarely worth an after-hours rate.

What to do before anyone arrives

  1. Turn off every tap and appliance in the house. Read the meter, including the fine dial. Wait fifteen minutes with nothing used. Read it again. Movement means a leak on your side.
  2. Repeat with the main stop tap at the house closed. If the meter still moves, the leak is between the meter and the house — under the ground. If it stops, it is inside.
  3. Check the obvious internal suspects first: toilets (food-colouring test), the hot water relief valve dripping, and any irrigation system on a timer.
  4. Keep the bill and the meter photographs. Some authorities have a concession for a hidden leak, and it generally requires evidence and a plumber's report.

What to ask when you book

  • Do you do acoustic or thermal leak detection, or do you find leaks by digging?
  • Will you provide a written report suitable for a water authority leak concession?
  • If it is in the service line, do you repair the section or replace the run — and what is the difference in likelihood of a second leak?

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

  • Whether the leak is inside, under the slab, or in the buried service line.
  • What is over the top of it — lawn, paving, a driveway or a slab.
  • Detection equipment versus exploratory excavation. The first costs more per hour and usually less overall.

What you can do yourself

Is this licensed work?

Licensed plumbing work. Repairs to the water service between the meter and the house are yours; the meter and the main are the authority's.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for a water bill that suddenly doubled
A licensed plumber, ideally one who does leak detection with acoustic or thermal equipment rather than by excavation. Before you ring, do the meter test — it takes fifteen minutes, costs nothing, and turns a suspicion into a fact the plumber can work from.
Will my water authority reduce the bill if it was a hidden leak?
Many run a concession or remission scheme for concealed leaks, usually once, usually requiring that you fixed it promptly, and usually requiring a licensed plumber's report. That is a reason to get the report even when the repair itself is small.
Can a leak be under the slab without any visible sign?
Yes, and that is what makes the meter test valuable — it detects loss rather than damage. Warm spots on a floor, unexplained damp at the base of a wall, or the sound of running water with nothing running are the usual first clues, and often none of them appear early.

Find a Plumber near you

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Who to hire for

General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.