Leak Detection
in Bryanston
Leak detection in Bryanston starts at the water meter, with every tap closed. If the meter still moves, the property is tested section by section until the leak is found. If it does not move, you get that in writing too, which matters when a bill is in dispute.
Book a leak testSigns That Water Is Going Somewhere
None of them proves a leak on its own. Together with a meter reading, they show where to start.
- The meter turns with everything closed
- The clearest sign. Note the reading, wait an hour without using water, and read it again.
- A damp patch that will not dry
- On a wall, a floor or the lawn. Water travels along pipes and under screed, so the patch is not always above the leak.
- Running water at night in a quiet house
- A leak on the supply side can sometimes be heard at a wall, a valve or the meter when everything else is off.
- Sinking paving or a soft strip of lawn
- A leak on a long buried supply line washes out the ground above it, sometimes well away from the house.
- The bill jumped and nothing changed
- Do the meter test first. If the meter is still, ask the City to check the reading before you pay for a search.
When The Bill Says Leak And The House Says Otherwise
A homeowner in Dainfern, elsewhere in Johannesburg's northern suburbs, saw a monthly water charge go from R1,334 to R454,192. The City and Johannesburg Water put it down to an internal leak. An engineer called it a meter or billing error, and a high-pressure gas test on the property found no active leak at all.
The case shows what a leak test is for. Finding water is only half of it; the other half is evidence. The City's advice sets out the starting point: with every tap and water-using appliance off, a meter that still registers suggests water is escaping on the property. Whatever is inside the boundary falls to the owner.
On a big Bryanston property that first step needs care, because more than the taps draw water. A pool with an automatic top-up, irrigation on a timer, a fridge with an ice maker, a cistern that trickles into the bowl: any of them moves the meter with every tap shut. Each is closed in turn and the meter read after each, so the result means something. The readings are taken to the litre, over a set time, and written down as they are taken, because a meter that creeps slowly only shows it on the smallest dial.
If the meter still moves, the search narrows one part of the system at a time: the line from the meter to the house, the cold side, the hot side, the garden branches. Each is isolated and held under pressure on a gauge. A section that loses pressure has the leak, and a section that holds is cleared. Where the run is long and buried, listening and tracing find the spot before anything is dug up.
Whichever way it goes, ask for the result in writing: the readings, the sections tested and which ones held. If there is a leak, the report shows where. If there is not, it is what you hand the City when you query the bill.
What A Leak Search Is Priced On
The call-out covers the meter test and the first round of isolation. The rest is priced in writing before it starts.
The search
- How many branches the supply has: house, garden, pool, irrigation, outbuildings
- How long the buried run is from the meter to the house
- Listening or tracing equipment, if the section cannot be pinpointed without it
The repair
- What has failed: a fitting, a length of pipe or the whole run
- What sits over it: tiles, screed, paving or lawn
- Making good afterwards, on a separate line of the quote
How A Leak Is Traced
Starting at the meter and working inwards.
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Read the meter
With every tap and water-using appliance off, over a set time, and the readings written down.
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Isolate and pressure-test
Branch by branch, on a gauge, until the section that loses pressure is known.
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Pinpoint
Listening or tracing along that section, so the opening made to reach the leak is small.
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Report and repair
The readings and results in writing, and a separate written price for the repair.
Leak Questions, Answered
Including the meter test you can do before anyone comes out.
How much does leak detection cost in Bryanston?
It depends on how many branches the property has and how long the buried runs are. The meter test and the first round of isolating sections are part of the call-out. If pinpointing needs listening or tracing equipment, that is priced before it is used.
Can I do the meter test myself?
Yes. Close every tap and everything that uses water, including a pool top-up and the irrigation, note the meter reading, wait an hour without using any water and read it again. Any movement means water is going somewhere.
Do you have to lift tiles or dig to find the leak?
Only once the leak has been narrowed to one section and pinpointed, so the opening is as small as it can be. Making good afterwards is priced on its own line.
My pool keeps losing water. Is it leaking?
Some loss is evaporation, and hot, windy days take more. Here is the check: a bucket of pool water stood on the top step sits in the same sun and wind as the pool. Mark the water line in the bucket and on the tile, then check both the next day. A pool that loses noticeably more than the bucket has a leak somewhere.
The City says I have a leak, but I cannot find one. What now?
Do the closed-tap test and photograph the meter with the date. If the meter is still, ask the City to check the meter and the reading, and attach a written leak-test report to your query.
Is a leak at the meter my problem?
No. The City says leaks on the municipal meter or outside your boundary are for Johannesburg Water to repair. Report it with a photograph.
Can a slow leak damage the house?
Yes. Water under a floor or behind a wall can lift tiles, rot skirtings and feed damp for months before it shows. Under paving it washes out the bedding, and the paving settles.
Do you repair the leak once it is found?
Yes, at a separate written price. Depending on what the test found, it might be one fitting, a length of pipe or a new run of supply line.
Book A Leak Test
Doing the meter test before you write saves time: give us the two readings and how far apart they were taken. We phone back to arrange the visit.