We need to be able to access to your water meter at any time. This could be to take a meter reading, investigate an issue or make necessary repairs or replacements.

Most water meters are outside of properties, on the grass berm, or in the concrete. Some water meters are within the grounds of your property, or sometimes on a neighbour’s land. Meters used to be installed where the developer planned them to be. All new meter connections are installed on public land.

For a meter to be accessible there needs to be enough space for a 2-man crew to comfortably work in and around the meter box. There also needs to be a safe, clear pathway from the road to your water meter.

Find and read my water meter

Resolving meter access issues

If your meter isn’t accessible, we can’t correctly charge you. This could happen for many reasons, such as:

• Your meter is behind a gate, which you keep locked

• You have a dog on your property

• Your meter has been covered (with a temporary or permanent structure) or buried (under landscaping or a new driveway)

• Your garden is overgrown around your meter

The first time this happens, we will estimate your charges and notify you. If we have advised you of an access issue please contact us to agree on a permanent solution. You can complete this form to tell us more about your situation.

Relocating your water meter

The best solution is always to relocate your meter. Once you do this, we won’t have any issues reading your water meter again. We will remove your meter and install it in a new box on the grass berm, or concrete outside of your house. We will remove the original meter box and reinstate the area where the original meter was.

As the property owner, you would pay a one-off charge for the meter relocation. You can see our current charges for a better idea of the price of a standard relocation. Meter relocations are standard when they’re going from a grassed area, to a grassed area, no traffic control is needed and there are no other complications with the areas the meter is moving from and to.

Important notes:

You can find out more about relocating your meter here.

While we can relocate your meter, our team and contractors will not carry out any private plumbing work on your side of the point of supply.

Cutting in a new water meter

If your meter continues to be inaccessible and we haven't heard from you or agreed on a permanent solution, we have the option of installing a new meter.

We will cut in a new water meter outside of your property’s boundary, at your cost. This is only needed when we haven’t been able to resolve this issue permanently with you in another way.