Every month, our crews serving Vancouver get calls that start with a water bill — sometimes double the usual, sometimes worse — and a homeowner certain the utility misread the meter. Occasionally they're right. Usually, the meter is telling the truth about a leak nobody can see. The good news: finding out takes ten minutes, and you don't need a plumber to do it.
The 10-minute meter test
Turn off every fixture and appliance that uses water — faucets, ice maker, irrigation, humidifier. Find your water meter (in Vancouver it's typically in a ground box near the street) and look at the low-flow indicator: a small triangle or star-shaped dial. If it's turning while nothing in the house is running, water is leaving your system somewhere.
Narrow it down with the main shutoff: close the valve where water enters the house and check the indicator again. Still spinning? The leak is in the service line between the meter and the house — an underground problem. Stopped? The leak is inside, and the usual suspects are worth checking in order.
Where indoor leaks hide
Toilets are the number-one silent water waster — a failed flapper can pass hundreds of gallons a day without a sound. Drop food coloring in the tank; if the bowl shows color in fifteen minutes without flushing, that's your leak. After toilets: water softener valves stuck in regeneration, dripping water heater relief valves running straight to a drain, and irrigation zone valves weeping into the lawn all summer.
The sneakiest failure in Clark County's housing stock is the slab leak — a hot-water line pinholing under the concrete floor, common in homes from the 60s through the 80s where copper was run in or under the slab. Warm spots on the floor, the sound of running water in quiet rooms, or a water heater that never stops cycling are the tells. We locate these electronically, without exploratory demolition, and most can be rerouted overhead without breaking concrete.
When to call — and what it costs to wait
A leak that shows on the meter never fixes itself; it erodes soil, feeds mold, and compounds the bill every day it runs. If the meter test points inside, most repairs are same-day work. If it points to the service line, trenchless water line replacement usually avoids destroying the yard. Either way, Vancouver's utility offers leak-adjustment credits on bills when a documented leak is professionally repaired — we provide the paperwork. Our Vancouver crews serve all of Clark County, and leak detection is daily work for them — and if water is actively running where it shouldn't, our 24/7 emergency line is the faster call. Request a visit and bring that bill back down.
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