The short answer
Most water meters in Northern Virginia have a leak indicator: a small triangle, star or toothed wheel on the dial, often red or black, that turns whenever water moves through the meter, even a drip’s worth. Turn off every faucet and appliance in the house, wait 15 minutes, and watch it. If it’s still turning, water is going somewhere you didn’t send it. That’s the whole test.
It’s the first thing to check for a water bill that jumped, a sound of water running in the walls or a damp spot nobody can explain. The leak indicator is the meter’s own warning light. What the rest of the house’s lights and codes mean is in error codes and warning lights at home.
Where your meter is
In most Northern Virginia houses the meter sits in a pit near the street, usually in the strip between the sidewalk and the curb or near the property line, under a round or square lid. Some older houses have it inside instead, in the basement where the water line comes through the wall.
Pry the lid up with a big flat screwdriver and set it on the grass. In warm weather, look before you reach in, because wasps and spiders like meter pits. Under the lid is the meter, and on top of the meter is a hinged cover over the dial. Flip it up. If the pit is full of water, call your water utility: the meter and the pit are theirs.
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How to read the dial
- The leak indicator. The small triangle, star or wheel. It’s geared to spin fast, so it shows flow far too small to move anything else on the dial.
- The sweep hand. The big hand that goes around the face. On many home meters one full turn is 10 gallons or 1 cubic foot, and the face says which.
- The odometer. The row of numbers, counting gallons or cubic feet. One cubic foot is about 7.5 gallons.
- A digital face. Some meters show only numbers. Many of those show a flow rate or a faucet or leak symbol, and some are solar powered and wake up when you shine a flashlight on them.
The test, step by step
- Turn off every faucet, shower and hose, and make sure the dishwasher and the washer aren’t running.
- Think about what uses water on its own: the ice maker, a water softener (most clean themselves overnight), a humidifier on the furnace (many run water whenever the heat’s on), irrigation, and the water heater refilling after someone’s shower. Turn off what you can, or wait 15 to 30 minutes.
- Watch the leak indicator for two full minutes.
- If it doesn’t move, try the slow version. Before bed, with the ice maker and softener off, write down every digit on the odometer. Read it again first thing in the morning before anyone runs water. If the number changed, something is leaking slowly.
What the indicator is telling you
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| What it does | What it usually is | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Spinning steadily, fast | A running toilet, an irrigation zone stuck on, or a broken pipe | Check every toilet, then shut the main to split inside from outside. |
| Creeping slowly | A toilet flapper seeping, a dripping faucet, or a small leak in a pipe you can’t see | The dye test in the toilets, then the main valve test. |
| Moves, then stops | Something refilling: the ice maker, the water heater, a toilet | Wait 15 minutes and look again. |
| Doesn’t move at all | No water moving right now | If the bill is still high, run the overnight test, or ask the utility to check the meter. |
Toilets cause most of it. To check, put a few drops of food coloring in each toilet tank, wait 15 minutes without flushing, and look in the bowl. Color in the bowl means the flapper is leaking (toilet keeps running). A toilet leaking that way runs all day and all night, and here is what it adds to the bill.
Inside the house, or between the meter and the house?
With the indicator moving and nothing running, shut the main water valve where the line comes into the house (finding your shutoff valves). Then go back out and look at the meter.
- It stopped. The leak is inside: a toilet, a faucet, a pipe in a wall or floor, the water heater, a humidifier line. Open the main back up and start looking.
- It keeps moving. The leak is in the buried line between the meter and the house, or the main valve isn’t closing all the way. Old gate valves, the kind with a round wheel handle, often don’t shut off completely after decades of sitting open.
A leaking buried line usually leaves clues in the yard: a strip of grass greener than the rest, a soft spot that never dries, water standing in the meter pit, or a dip forming along the path of the line.
Whose leak is it?
Your water utility owns the meter and the pipe from the main in the street to the meter. In most of Northern Virginia, the line from the meter to the house is the homeowner’s, along with everything inside. A leak at the meter, in the pit, or on the street side is the utility’s to fix, so call them. A leak between the meter and the house is a plumber’s job. Once it’s fixed, keep the invoice: most utilities here give a credit for a leak that’s been repaired, and the invoice is the proof (water bill leak adjustments).
What finding and fixing it costs
If the leak is inside and you can’t see it, finding it runs $200 to $500. Finding the exact spot is what keeps the opening in the wall or floor small (how leak detection works). Replacing the buried line from the meter to the house runs $3,500 to $8,000, depending on how long it is and what’s in the way. From about $58 a month at 0% APR for 60 months, the whole price financed, on approved credit.
If the meter is moving and you can’t find why, that’s what SwiftPro’s plumbers do all day. Our Water Test and Plumbing Safety Check is $29: a licensed plumber walks your plumbing with photos, checks the water heater and tests your water’s hardness at the kitchen table. Hand them the bill and tell them what’s been running. If you already know something’s leaking, a plumbing visit is $49 in regular hours, and the price of the fix is in writing before we start. Booking a plumbing repair? The whole-house plumbing inspection is included, so the next drip gets caught too.
Get a plumber on it
Book a plumber online, call (703) 997-9757, or book the $29 plumbing safety check. We answer day or night. Rated 5.0 stars across 1,138 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook, Virginia Class A license 2705192276.
Questions people ask
What does the red triangle on my water meter mean?
It’s the leak indicator, also called a low flow indicator. It turns whenever water moves through the meter, even a tiny amount. If it’s turning with every faucet and appliance off, water is leaking somewhere.
How do I check my water meter for a leak?
Turn off all water, wait 15 to 30 minutes for the ice maker, softener and water heater to finish, then watch the leak indicator for two minutes. If it moves, something is leaking. For a slow leak, read the odometer at night and again in the morning before anyone uses water.
Why is my water meter moving when no water is on?
Usually a toilet flapper leaking into the bowl, an irrigation valve that didn’t close, or something refilling. If it’s none of those, a pipe is leaking, inside or in the buried line. Shut the main valve: if the meter stops, the leak is inside the house.
Is a leak between the meter and the house my responsibility?
Usually, yes. In most of Northern Virginia the water utility owns the meter and the pipe to the street, and the homeowner owns the line from the meter to the house. A leak at the meter or on the street side is the utility’s to fix.
