About two months ago I noticed my water bill went up quite a bit with no obvious reason. I don't see any puddles or dampness on the walls, but the meter keeps running even when I shut off all the taps. Is there any way to find where the leak is without tearing everything apart?
The most straightforward way is to check your meter: turn off all the taps in the house and see if it keeps moving - if it does, the leak is between the meter and your internal pipes. Then, open just one tap at a time and watch the meter to pinpoint which area has the problem; if it moves when everything's closed but stops when you open a specific zone, that's where it is. For hidden leaks without visible water damage, some plumbers use acoustic detectors that pick up the sound of water escaping, so you avoid tearing into walls randomly.
Your water meter is your best ally here 🚰 If you shut off all the taps in the house and the meter keeps running, there's definitely a leak. Now, the trick is isolating where it is: turn off the main water shutoff valve (the one that controls all the water coming into your house), wait 10 minutes and check the meter again. If it moved anyway, the leak is between the meter and that valve - in the external line, so that's the municipality's or water company's problem. If it didn't move, then it's inside your pipes.
Once you know it's internal, you can do this: open only the tap in the bathroom farthest from the house, wait a few minutes and see if the meter moves in proportion to what you used. Then try another zone (kitchen, laundry room, etc) 🏠 The leak is probably in whichever section the meter "reacts to" the most. There are devices they sell at hardware stores for listening to pipes (like water stethoscopes), but honestly with patience and this method you almost always find where the leak is without having to tear into walls.
If after checking all this the meter keeps running without you opening anything and the main shutoff is closed, then yeah you probably need to call a plumber to use professional detection equipment. But most of the time people find the leak just with this - it could be a loose fitting under the floor, a pipe with a crack from vibration or something like that which gets fixed pretty quick 💧
What nobody mentions is that if the leak is in buried pipes (under the floor or in the walls), the meter will keep running but you won't see any moisture anywhere - which is exactly what's happening to you. Before you call a plumber to tear everything apart, try this: shut off the main water valve, wait a few minutes, and check if the meter keeps moving - if it does, the leak is between the street and your main valve, which is already the municipality's problem. If it stops, then it's definitely inside the house. In that case you need a leak detector (some people rent those devices or a plumber can do it) because tearing things up blindly is expensive and doesn't guarantee anything.
If the meter keeps running with all the taps closed, you've definitely got a leak, but before you call a plumber to start breaking walls, try this: shut off the main water valve (the one that controls all the water in the house) and wait 20 minutes, then open just one section of pipes at a time - for example, the bathroom - and check the meter to see which area has the problem. In my case I discovered the leak was in the toilet pipe, which drips without you noticing; the meter was racking up liters without me seeing anything on the floor. If after isolating by sections the meter keeps running, then it's probably something underground and you'll need a professional with an acoustic leak detector, which is cheaper than breaking walls.
Don't call a plumber yet without doing a proper test: the people mentioning the main shutoff valve are right, but you need to be more thorough. Close that valve, wait five minutes (so the pressure stabilizes) and only then check if the meter moves - if it keeps running it means the leak is between the municipal line and your shutoff valve, so that's the water company's problem. If it stops, the leak is in your internal plumbing. To find it without breaking anything, open only the faucet in the bathroom furthest away, wait and check the meter; if it doesn't advance, close it and try the next one, that way you rule out sections until you find which pipe is leaking. If no individual faucet makes the meter move but it still does when you close them all, the leak is probably in something you use without thinking about it (the toilet tank float, for example) or in a buried line - that's when you'll need a professional, but at least you'll already know exactly what's going on.
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