Water Meter Creeping in West Wickham? Find the Hidden Leak

A meter that moves with every tap off means water is going somewhere. Close your internal stopcock and watch the meter again: if it stops, the leak is inside the house, and the commonest culprit is a toilet cistern quietly running into the pan. If it keeps moving with the stopcock off, the leak is on the underground supply pipe under your front garden or drive. Either way it is on your side of the boundary, and Thames Water expects it fixed within four weeks.

The full test, done properly

1. Turn off every tap, the washing machine, dishwasher and any outside tap, and wait until no toilet is refilling.
2. Find the meter, usually under a small lid in the front path or pavement, and photograph the reading, including the small dials or red digits.
3. Leave the house without using any water for 30 to 60 minutes.
4. Photograph the reading again. If any part of it has moved, you have a leak.
5. Turn your internal stopcock off clockwise.
6. Watch the meter for ten to fifteen minutes.
7. If it has stopped, the leak is inside the house. If it is still moving, the leak is on the pipe between the meter and the stopcock.

Do it at a quiet time of day and make sure nobody runs a tap halfway through. One flushed toilet will make the whole test meaningless.

The leak is inside. Where do I look?

The toilet

A cistern whose flush valve or siphon is not sealing lets water trickle into the pan all day. You often cannot hear it. Lay a sheet of dry toilet paper across the back of the pan, below the rim, and leave it for an hour without flushing. If it is wet or torn when you come back, the cistern is passing water. Put a few drops of food colouring in the cistern as a second check: colour in the pan without a flush means the same thing. It is one of the cheapest leaks to fix and one of the most expensive to ignore on a meter.

The loft tank

If you have a cold water tank in the loft, look at the overflow pipe on the outside wall. A drip or a trickle means the float valve is not shutting off, and the tank is overfilling and running out to waste. That shows on your meter.

Pipes you cannot see

Most West Wickham houses are 1930s, and most had central heating added after they were built, with pipes chased into the solid front-room floor. A leak on a heating pipe does not usually show on the water meter if you have a sealed system, but a leak on a hot or cold water pipe buried in the floor or a wall will. Look for a warm patch on a floor, damp skirting, a stain that keeps returning, or the sound of running water when everything is off.

Hot water cylinder and appliances

A weeping valve on a cylinder, or a slowly dripping washing machine connection, can also be enough to move the meter.

The leak is outside. What now?

If the meter keeps turning with the stopcock off, the water is escaping on the supply pipe under your garden or drive. Thames Water is clear that the supply pipe within your property boundary is yours to repair.

Two local things make this common in BR4. First, the ground is clay, which shrinks in a dry summer and swells in a wet winter, bending and cracking old lead or iron supply pipes under 1930s front paths. Second, the larger houses towards Langley Park can have long supply runs under the drive, which leaves more pipe to go wrong.

Do not be fooled by a wet lawn on its own. Bromley Council’s flood risk assessment records groundwater flooding in West Wickham in the winter of 2014, and after a long wet spell the ground can be soaked without any pipe leaking. The meter is the deciding test: groundwater does not turn it.

What are the rules on fixing it?

Thames Water says that once you know about a leak on your side you must fix it within four weeks. If you are on a meter and get it fixed in time, you may be able to claim a leak allowance for the water you lost. Thames also says that if the work is not done by a WaterSafe approved plumber, it may come and check it. Keep the invoice and the dates.

When should I call leak detection?

If the leak is underground or buried in a floor, guessing is expensive. Professional leak detection uses acoustic equipment to listen for the leak along the pipe, ground microphones to narrow it down, and tracer gas for pipes too quiet to hear. Thermal imaging finds hot pipes in floors and walls. The aim is to dig or lift once, in the right place. Our guide to whether a street leak is Thames Water’s or yours helps if water is also showing in the pavement. More about the area on our West Wickham page.

Need a plumber now?

If your meter is creeping and you cannot find why, Call 07868 281022. Tell us your postcode, what the meter did with the stopcock on and off, and whether you can see water anywhere. We do leak detection in West Wickham and water leak repairs across BR4, including Coney Hall, and we agree the price with you before any work starts.