Finding hidden water leaks in Leongatha properties

Signs of a hidden leak

A water bill much higher than usual, the water meter dial moving when every tap is off, a tank pump that cycles on and off overnight, a constantly damp patch of lawn, mould or bubbling paint low on a wall, warm spots on a tiled floor, or the sound of running water when nothing is on.

The meter test

On town water, the first step is simple: turn off every tap and appliance and watch the meter. If the small dial moves, water is escaping somewhere. On tank water, we isolate the pump and watch the pressure gauge instead. Either test tells us whether there is a leak before we start looking for it.

Narrowing it down

We split the system into sections using isolation valves and test each. That tells us whether the leak is on the underground service, under a slab, inside a wall or at a fixture. Listening equipment picks up the sound of water escaping from a pressurised pipe, and thermal imaging can show hot water leaks in floors and walls.

Fixing with minimal damage

Once the leak is pinpointed, we open up only what is needed to repair it. Sometimes rerouting a pipe through the roof or along a wall is better than digging up a slab, and we explain the options and costs.

Leaks on the authority side

If the leak is on South Gippsland Water's side of the meter, we show you the evidence so you can report it to them.

Farm and rural leaks

Long poly lines across paddocks can leak for months unnoticed. Walking the line, checking troughs and float valves, and pressure testing sections finds most of them.

Leongatha pipes, hill-country clay and South Gippsland Water

Leongatha sits on the rolling dairy country between the Strzelecki Ranges and the Tarwin River flats, and the ground under most of the town is heavy clay that goes greasy in a wet winter and hard and cracked by late summer. That seasonal swelling and shrinking is what pulls apart rigid earthenware sewer joints, lets tree roots into old lines and tips stormwater pits out of level. The older streets around the town centre, Bair Street and the hospital precinct still have plenty of houses with galvanised or copper water services and clay sewer branches, while the newer estates on the edges of town were plumbed in PVC and cross-linked polyethylene.

South Gippsland Water owns the mains, the water meter and the sewer up to each property's connection point. Everything on your side of that point belongs to the owner, must be worked on by a licensed plumber, and needs a compliance certificate where the Victorian rules call for one. Outside the sewered area, on farms and lifestyle blocks, homes run on rainwater tanks, pressure pumps, septic systems and bottled LPG, all of which we service. When a fault is on the authority's side, we tell them and show them the evidence.

How a Leongatha plumbing job gets priced

For a straightforward repair, the plumber who turns up looks at the fault, tells you what has failed and what the fix involves, and gives you the figure there and then. Nothing is started until you agree. Larger jobs, such as replacing a hot water unit, digging up a broken sewer, re-running a farm water line or plumbing a renovation, get a written quote by email after the inspection. That quote names the parts by make and model, splits the labour into stages, says who handles excavation and reinstatement, and lists the compliance certificate and warranties that go with the work.

There are no hourly rates or call-out figures on this website, on purpose. One Leongatha drain clears in a quarter of an hour; the next turns out to be a cracked earthenware joint full of roots under a concrete path. One hot water swap is like for like; the next needs a bigger electrical circuit, a new tempering valve or a different spot for a heat pump. Looking first and pricing second is the only honest way to do it.