DETECTING A LEAK
To promote wise water use and minimize the loss of water at your property, the HCWA encourages all customers to check for leaks periodically. Below are some tips on how to check for leaks.
Follow these easy steps:
- Turn off all water inside and outside of the house, including showers, sinks, the washing machine, and any appliance that uses water.
- Take the lid off the meter box. Be careful, as lids can be heavy, and sometimes bugs and small animals hide inside meter boxes.
- Watch the meter.
- Your meter has a triangular black or red flow indicator on it. If it is spinning, you have a leak.
- If the indicator is not moving, note the position and wait ten minutes. Check the meter again, if it has moved, you have a slow leak.
- Locate the main shut-off valve in your house. It is usually located near the hot water heater in the basement, garage, or crawl space.
- Turn off the valve.
- Turn on a faucet inside the house to test.
- If water still flows from the faucet after several seconds, the shut-off valve is not working. There is no way to tell if the leak is indoors or outdoors.
- If no water flows through the faucet, the shut-off valve is working. Return to the meter.
- Check if the meter's flow indicator is moving.
- If the leak indicator or dial hand is still moving, water is flowing between the meter and the shut-off valve. That means you have an underground leak.
- If it is not moving, then you have an indoor leak.
The most common type of water loss is through a toilet malfunction. To test your toilets, place water base food coloring or dark liquid in the backside of the toilet tank. Wait approximately 45-60 minutes and check the toilet bowl. If the water in the bowl has started to change colors, then you have what is known as the silent leak in your toilet.
Leak Discount Policy
Henry County Water Authority (HCWA) is committed to water conservation and encourages customers to do their part to reduce lost water by repairing leaks in a timely manner. As a customer of HCWA, it is your responsibility to keep your plumbing system in good working order. As a courtesy, HCWA will review a customer’s request for a discount due to a leak on the customer’s side of the meter.
Click here for the Leak Discount Application.
Click here for the Sewer Adjustment Request Form (Sewer Credit Only).
In order to be considered for a leak discount the following requirements must be met:
- Water usage must be at least 100% above the average monthly usage. Average usage is defined as the average normal consumption for a minimum of three consecutive months.
- Leak was repaired within the last 60 days.
- Only two water/sewer discounts per account per 12 months from the date of the submitted application.
Water discounts will NOT be made on the following:
- Filling and/or repairs to swimming pools or hot tubs
- Filling and/or repairs to ponds or lawn decorations
- Hose or outside faucet left on accidentally
- Leaking hoses
- Pressure washing (houses/driveways, etc.)
- Premises left abandoned or vacant without reasonable care of the plumbing system;
- Irrigation system failures (which include but are not limited to timer malfunction, line break, sprinkler head replacement, etc.), watering of lawns, new sod, or new landscaping.
- Homes under construction and/or major renovations
- Water theft
Sewer discounts will NOT be made on the following:
- Toilet repairs
- Indoor faucet, bathtub, or shower repairs in which the water went into the sewer system;
- Any type of leak or repair in which the water went into the sewer system.
In the event a customer receives an abnormally high bill as a result of a loss caused by a leak, a courtesy leak discount may be granted on the last (2) two consecutive bills impacted by the leak.
Turning off a water source to the leak or suspected leak does not constitute a repair.
The above stipulations do not limit additional consideration at the discretion of HCWA. Failure to adhere to this policy and provide the documents requested will result in the denial of your leak discount request. Partially completed requests will not be accepted.