The location of your water meter is one of the most important pieces of information you will need to know as a homeowner and business owner.
When there is a plumbing issue and water is pouring out, the longer this happens the worse the water damage can be. This can be prevented if the water source is shut off.
Damage, costs and the waste of water is minimized and you can have peace of mind until a professional from Trojan Plumbing comes around to take care of the issue.
How to locate the water meter and shut it off?
The water meter is always located on the outside of the premise or on the outside of the boundary wall. Most of the time, this is the road boundary. Walking along the edge of the road, you will see the Council would have indicated the location of the water meter with a large “W” or blue marked (line or circle) painted on the edge of the road.
This can vary depending on the condition of the road and the condition of the verge. It is generally a good idea to have the grass or plants on your verge neat and tidy, so seeing the water meter and blue indicator is easy.
Another way to locate the meter and shut it off is to check your premises plans / drawings. It will be indicated on the plan and show you the general location of the shut off. If the house is a new build or renovation the plumber should have provided a building plan to show the location of the all the plumbing pipes and shut off’s
Once you have found the meter and shut it off you will notice one or the other of the following:
1) On the council side of the meter is a shut off :
- Older meters the shut off is a flat square shut off, which requires a tool to shut off the meter (It was done this way because it was for councils’ use only) .
- With new plastic water meters, there is a plastic handle, generally black, which can be seen and easily accessible with the hand to shut off the water.
- Please note that with either of the water meters please make sure the meter is clear of any poisonous insects before sticking your hand in.
2) On your side of the boundary wall should also be a shut off tap, generally located in a small square box. This is your responsibility if it leaks or how often it is serviced. The idea of this valve is that it is easily accessible and easy to shut off quickly.
If you are still struggling to locate both your shut off and water meters, please call us and one of our Trojan Plumbing maintenance plumbers can come out with a pipe locator and pinpoint the exact locations of the pipes, shut offs and water meter.
