Leak Detection & Repair

If you suspect a hidden leak but cannot find it, your water meter can confirm one exists before you start opening walls. The test is simple and free.

• Make sure no water is running anywhere in the house: no dishwasher, washing machine, ice maker, or irrigation system
• Find your water meter, often in the basement, a utility closet, or a pit near the street, and note the reading (or the position of the small leak-indicator dial, if your meter has one)
• Wait two hours without using any water
• Check the meter again. If the reading changed at all, or the leak indicator moved, water is going somewhere

The EPA estimates that household leaks waste more than 9,300 gallons of water per year in the average home, and that roughly 1 in 10 homes has a leak wasting 50 gallons or more per day. A faucet dripping once per second wastes over 3,000 gallons a year on its own; a showerhead leaking at 10 drips a minute wastes more than 500 gallons a year. Either one can run for months without anyone noticing, since neither shows up as a puddle.

The meter test only tells you that a leak exists somewhere between the meter and your fixtures, not where. From there, narrowing it down usually means shutting off individual sections, such as the main valve to a specific bathroom or the irrigation system, and repeating the test to see whether the meter goes quiet.

A toilet that runs even occasionally is one of the most common sources of wasted water, and it is easy to check yourself. Add a few drops of food coloring or a dye tablet to the tank, not the bowl, and wait 10 to 15 minutes without flushing. If color appears in the bowl, the flapper or flush valve seal is letting tank water leak past it, and it needs to be replaced.

Pipes freeze and split when water inside them turns to ice and expands, most often in unheated or poorly insulated spaces such as attics, crawl spaces, garages, and runs along exterior walls. The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) recommends insulating pipe in these hard-to-reach areas, sealing cracks and gaps that let cold air reach them, and covering ventilated crawl space openings for the winter.

• Insulate pipe runs in attics, crawl spaces, and along exterior walls with foam pipe sleeves
• Caulk exterior gaps and add weatherstripping around doors and windows near plumbing runs
• Shut off and drain outdoor faucets that are not frost-proof before winter sets in
• Cover or seal ventilated crawl space vents during the coldest months

Standard homeowners policies generally cover sudden, accidental water damage, such as a pipe that bursts without warning, but often exclude damage from a leak that was allowed to continue over time or from a plumbing system that was not maintained. As a practical matter, insurers commonly ask for photos of the damage taken before any cleanup or repair begins, the date the leak was discovered, and receipts for emergency mitigation (such as a water extraction company) and any repairs performed. Keeping damaged materials until an adjuster has seen them, or at minimum photographing them thoroughly from multiple angles, helps avoid disputes later over what actually happened.

A written repair invoice that states the cause of the leak, such as a failed supply line fitting or a frozen and split pipe, is also worth keeping with your claim records. It gives the adjuster a plumber's account of what happened in addition to your own, which can matter if the timeline of the leak is ever in question.