Water Meter Leak Test in Redwood City
A Water Meter Leak Test in Redwood City starts at the meter, not at a wall: turn everything off, read the meter, wait, and read it again, and any movement while nothing runs tells you water is escaping. This standalone guide walks through that self-test, the City's My Water hourly portal, and what to do with the result, so a high bill becomes a located leak instead of a mystery.
The Meter Self-Test, Step by Step
Turn everything off, read the meter, wait with nothing running, and read it again: if the reading moved, water is escaping somewhere.
Turn Everything Off
Shut every tap, toilet fill, dishwasher, washer, water heater feed that cycles, and every irrigation zone. A single running fixture ruins the test, so walk the house and the yard before you start.
Read the Meter
Find the meter, note the reading, and photograph the dial and the low-flow indicator if your meter has one. The photo is your baseline and your evidence.
Wait With Nothing Running
Leave everything off and wait. A fast leak shows quickly; a slow leak needs a longer watch, so do not rush this step if the first re-read looks still.
Read It Again
Compare the second reading with the photo. Any movement with nothing running means water left the system, and the isolation test below tells you which side of the house valve it left from.
Isolate With the House Valve
Shut the main valve at the house and watch the meter. If it stops, the leak is inside. If it keeps moving, the leak is in the service line between meter and house.
Record and Call
Keep both readings, the photos, and the isolation result. That record is what a detection visit and any later bill conversation both start from.
A meter test confirms that a leak exists; it does not locate it. Acoustic listening, pressure testing, and line tracing are what turn a moving meter into a marked spot, and that is the detection step that follows a positive self-test.
Reading Hourly Usage in the City's My Water Portal
The My Water portal shows hourly usage from the City's smart meters, so you can see exactly when water was used, not just how much the month totalled.
Redwood City homes are served by smart meters, and the City's My Water portal turns those readings into hourly usage you can inspect. The most useful window is overnight: between late evening and early morning, a home with nothing running should show near-zero use. A steady overnight draw is the fingerprint of a continuous leak, while a spike at a single hour points to a fixture, an appliance, or an irrigation zone that ran at that time.
Use the portal in two passes. First, compare a normal day with the day the bill jumped, hour by hour, to find when the extra use started. Second, after a repair, watch the same hours again to confirm the draw has actually stopped. That before-and-after comparison is also the documentation a bill review conversation needs, and it is stronger than a monthly total alone.
Set a usage alert in the portal once you know your normal pattern. An alert set above ordinary use catches a broken irrigation line or a running toilet within days, instead of letting it run until the next bill arrives. A local resident's documented experience shows exactly this pattern: an alert set after one costly hose incident later caught a broken irrigation line early, from a puddle the alert prompted them to check.
A Discounted Smart Monitor Through the City's Flume Program
The City partners on a discounted Flume smart water monitor, which watches flow at the meter and alerts you to unusual use.
Alongside the portal, the City of Redwood City has a partnered program offering a discounted Flume smart water monitor. The monitor watches flow continuously and can flag unusual patterns, including the slow continuous draw that a monthly bill only reveals weeks later. For a homeowner who has already had one high bill, that early warning is the point: the next leak is caught while it is still small.
Two limits belong on this page plainly. First, this section is content only: it describes the program and what a monitor does, and it makes no claim that this business installs monitors or supplies them. Second, program details, pricing, and availability change, so confirm the current terms with the City before relying on them. What does not change is the underlying habit the program supports: watch flow, catch the anomaly early, and document it.
A monitor does not replace detection. It tells you that water is moving when it should not be; acoustic and thermal detection tell you where it is moving from. Treat the monitor as the alarm and the detection visit as the answer to the alarm.
From a Confirmed Leak to Asking About a Bill Review
The process is check the hourly data, fix the leak, document the repair, then call Revenue Services and ask about a bill review.
Work the sequence in order, because each step supports the next. Check the hourly data in the My Water portal to establish when the loss started and whether it has stopped. Fix the leak, and keep the repair invoice, photos of the fault, and the before-and-after hourly readings together. Then call the City's utility billing, Revenue Services, and ask about a bill review, presenting that documented bundle.
The wording here is deliberate: ask, never assume an adjustment. No published City leak-adjustment policy for Redwood City could be confirmed in the research behind this page, and no adjustment is promised here. The City decides any review on the evidence provided, and a documented repair with hourly data behind it is a stronger ask than a phone call with a monthly total alone.
If the review does not change the bill, the documentation still has value. It proves the leak is fixed, it gives the next bill a clean baseline, and with a usage alert set in the portal, the next anomaly is caught before it becomes the next high bill.
Related Leak Services
These are the closest companion services: each one starts with finding the leak first, and each one is already published on this site.
Water Leak Detection
Hidden supply leaks in walls, floors, and yard lines, pinpointed with acoustic and thermal checks before any opening.
More on water leak detection →Leak Detection Cost
Published ranges for each level of detection and the repairs that follow, so a detection quote can be compared before you agree to it.
What detection costs in Redwood City →Slab Leak Detection
For slab and Eichler homes in town, leaks under concrete located electronically before any concrete is opened.
Slab leak detection in Redwood City →Questions Homeowners Ask Us
Short answers first: each answer below states the general position, and the detail on this page explains the reasoning behind it.
How do I run a meter self-test?
Turn off every fixture, appliance, and irrigation zone, then read the meter and note the reading or photograph the dial. Leave everything off, wait, and read it again. If the reading has moved while nothing ran, water is escaping somewhere on your side of the meter.
What if the meter moves with everything off?
A moving meter with nothing running is strong evidence of a leak, not proof of its location. The next step is the isolation test: shut the main valve at the house and watch the meter again to narrow the leak to inside the house or to the line between meter and house.
What if the meter stops when I shut the house valve?
If the meter stops, the leak is inside the house or in a line fed past that valve, such as irrigation controlled from inside. Check toilets, water-heater connections, and fixture supply lines first, and use the hourly usage data to see when the loss happens.
What if the meter keeps moving after the house valve is shut?
If the meter keeps moving with the house valve shut, the leak is most likely in the service line between the meter and the house or in a yard line. That is an underground leak: it can run for weeks with no indoor sign, and it is the classic cause of a bill that jumps with no visible water.
How do I use My Water hourly data?
Open the City of Redwood City My Water portal and look at hourly usage, especially overnight hours when nothing should run. A steady overnight draw points to a continuous leak; a spike at one hour points to a fixture, appliance, or irrigation zone running at that time.
How do usage alerts help?
A settable usage alert in the portal warns you when use crosses a level you choose, so a broken irrigation line or a running fixture is caught in days rather than at the next bill. Set the alert after a normal-use baseline, not before, so ordinary days do not trigger it constantly.
What is the City-partnered Flume monitor program?
It is a City of Redwood City partnered program offering a discounted Flume smart water monitor, which watches flow at the meter and can alert you to unusual use. This page describes the program as content only: it makes no claim about installation, and program details and availability should be confirmed with the City.
How do I ask Revenue Services about a high bill after a repair?
Check the hourly data, fix the leak, document the repair with receipts and photos, then call Revenue Services and ask about a bill review. Ask, never assume: no adjustment is promised on this page, and the City decides any review on the evidence you provide.
Meter Moving With Everything Off? Get the Leak Located.
A self-test confirms a leak exists. A detection visit finds where it is, marks the spot, and gives you the written report to act on.
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