Water where it should not be
Leak Detection in Brakpan
Leak detection in Brakpan starts by proving there is a leak at all. Damp after a storm is often rain from outside, so the meter and a dated pencil line come before anyone opens a wall, a floor or the paving.
Request a call-outSigns that water is going somewhere it should not
And the first thing to check for each one.
The meter moves with every tap shut. Water is leaving a pipe somewhere after the meter. Of all the signs, this one is the most certain.
A bill that jumped. Take two meter readings an hour apart with nothing in use before you dispute the account.
Damp at the foot of a wall. A pipe, or rain lying against the outside of the wall. The pencil line tells you which.
A warm patch on a tiled floor. Often a hot-water pipe leaking under the slab, which shows as warmth before it shows as damp.
Water running with nothing on. A cistern letting water through to the pan, or a pipe running inside a wall.
Wet paving or green grass along a line. A buried pipe leaking somewhere along its run.
Damp and rain
Damp that follows the rain is often not a pipe at all
Why Brakpan walls get damp after storms, and the two free tests to run before paying for a leak search.
When the City took its plans to Brakpan in April 2025, it listed "Stormwater Drainages not working" as one of the three main problems of the Brakpan customer care area, and one ward asked for West Street to be widened with its storm water drainage upgraded. Where street drains do not carry a storm away, the water lies in roads and yards, and some of it ends up against the outside walls of houses.
Water standing against a wall soaks into the brick and plaster at its base, and from inside the room it looks exactly like a leaking pipe: a tide mark, paint lifting in bubbles, a skirting that smells musty. Opening a floor or cutting into a wall to reach a pipe that is not leaking is an expensive way to find out the water came from outside.
Two tests tell the cases apart before anything is broken. The first is the meter. Close every tap and make sure nothing is filling, then read the meter and read it again an hour later. If the figures moved, water is leaving a pipe somewhere after the meter. If they did not, the plumbing is holding, at least while nothing is in use.
The second is a pencil line. Draw lightly along the edge of the damp and write the date next to it. Look again after the next storm, and again after a dry week. Damp that spreads past the line after rain while the meter stays still points outside: to gutters, to paving that falls towards the wall, to a blocked channel. Damp that grows in dry weather, with the meter turning, points to a pipe.
Everything after the meter is the owner's under Ekurhuleni's Water Services By-law, which also says no one may let a pipe or tap leak and gives no rebate for water lost on the owner's side. That is the reason to prove a leak before searching for it: once the meter has confirmed one, the search can go straight to finding where it is, and the floor or wall is opened once, in the right place.
Before a leak search, do the meter test and draw a dated line on the damp. If the meter stands still and the damp follows the rain, start with gutters and paving, not the pipes.
How leak detection is priced
The search is priced before it starts, the repair once the leak is found, and making good on its own line.
Before anyone drives out
The visit charge. If you have already done the meter test, say what it showed: it can change what the visit needs.
Written before work
- How the search will be done.
- The place and size of any opening, agreed before it is made.
- The repair, priced once the leak is found.
What moves the number
- Pipes under a slab or in walls rather than exposed.
- How many runs have to be isolated and tested.
- Making good tiles, plaster or paving, on its own line.
How a leak is proved, found and fixed
The meter comes first and last.
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The meter test, together
With every tap shut, the meter is read to confirm water is really being lost before any search starts.
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One section at a time
Valves and branches are closed in turn until the loss is narrowed to one run of pipe.
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One opening, agreed first
The place and size of any opening are agreed and priced in writing before it is made.
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Watched until it stands still
After the repair you watch the meter with every tap closed. It should not move.
Leak and damp questions from Brakpan homes
Cost first, then the tests you can do yourself.
How much does leak detection cost in Brakpan?
It depends on how the pipes run and how much has to be tested, so the visit charge is said on the phone and the search is priced before it starts. Making good afterwards is quoted on a separate line, so you can see it on its own.
How do I do the meter test myself?
Close every tap, check that no cistern is filling and the washing machine is off, and write down the meter reading. Use no water for the next hour, then compare a second reading. If the figures moved, water is going somewhere after the meter.
The damp gets worse after rain. Is it still a leak?
Perhaps not. Mark the edge of the damp in pencil with the date and compare it after rain and after a dry spell. If it only grows after storms while the meter stays still, start with gutters, paving and drainage outside.
Will you dig up my floor to find the leak?
Not to go looking. The leak is narrowed down to one run of pipe first, and the place and size of any opening are agreed with you before it is made.
Is a leak after my meter the City's problem?
No. The by-law makes the owner responsible for the plumbing from the connection point at the meter, and gives no rebate for water lost to a leak on the owner’s side. A leak before the meter, on the City’s connection, is the City’s to repair: report it on 0860 543 000.
My water bill jumped. What should I check first?
Do the meter test, to see whether water really is being lost. If the meter stands still, compare the bill with your own readings; a misread or estimated reading is a matter for the City, not for a plumber.
Why is one spot on my tiled floor warm?
Warmth under tiles often means a hot-water pipe leaking under the slab. Switch the geyser’s breaker off so you stop heating water that is being lost, and book a leak search.
Can a hidden leak do more than raise the bill?
Yes. Water running under a slab or behind a wall soaks plaster and timber, and outside it can wash soil from under paving. Found early, the repair stays small.
Often the next job after this one
- Blocked drainsIf the damp smells of drains, the leak may be a cracked waste pipe rather than a water pipe.
- Geyser repairWater in the drip tray or a stain under the roof often starts at the geyser.
Describe the damp, or what the meter did
A plumber phones you back, says the visit charge, and walks you through the meter test if you have not done it yet.
Brakpan and the suburbs around it
A plumber comes to the house. There is no shop counter to visit.
The Brakpan Plumbers
Request a call-outNot in the index? Ask on the coupon; if it is close, the answer is usually yes.
AAnzac
BBrakpan Central, Brakpan North, Brenthurst
DDalpark, Dalview
HHelderwyk
KKenleaf
LLarendale, Leachville
MMaryvlei, Minnebron
SSallies Village, Sherwood Gardens, Sunair Park
TTsakane
VVan Eck Park, Vulcania
WWithok Estates