Checklist
Water meter leak test checklist
An unexplained jump in the water bill, a damp patch you cannot trace or the sound of water when nothing is running can all point to a hidden leak. The water meter test is a simple way to find out whether water is moving through your home when it should not be. It answers one question: is there a leak somewhere on the property, yes or no. It does not say where, and it does not tell you how to fix it.
Do not lift a meter box lid if it is stuck, if there is standing water or if you see insects or animals. Never open a meter box in a roadway or driveway without watching for traffic. If the area around the meter is wet or flooded, call your water utility.
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The rule in plain words
With every tap, appliance and fixture off, a household meter should not move. Any movement means water is passing through the meter, so it is going somewhere. The widely published version of the test is to read the meter, avoid using any water for about two hours, then read it again. If the numbers are not identical, you probably have a leak. It works as a yes or no check only.
What this test cannot tell you
It does not find the leak, measure how much water is lost in dollars or tell you whether a repair is safe to try. A toilet flapper that leaks into the bowl, a dripping tap and a pinhole in a buried pipe all look the same on the meter. A very small or intermittent leak, such as a toilet that refills a few times a day, may not show in a short window. A clean result does not rule out a leak from a pipe after the meter that only leaks under certain conditions.
Where this comes from
The method follows the EPA WaterSense program's Fix a Leak Week guidance, which describes checking the meter before and after a two-hour period with no water use and treating a change as a probable leak. Water utilities publish near-identical steps and note that meter types and locations vary, so check your own utility's instructions. This is general information, not plumbing advice.