Water Leak Detection in Gainesville, GA

01Your problem: the bill or the meter says water is going somewhere

Hidden leaks are the plumbing problem you pay for before you see. There may be no puddle at all, just a water bill that is higher than last month, a meter that turns when every tap is off, a damp patch on a slab floor, or the sound of water in a wall at night. The City of Gainesville Department of Water Resources lists a leak as one of the reasons a bill can rise, along with more days in the billing period, more outdoor watering and more people in the home. Ruling out those other causes first saves time and money.

Before you call anyone, it helps to know whose problem it is. The city's leak FAQ says the owner is responsible for the service line from the meter to the building, the interior plumbing and the irrigation system, while the department handles the street side of the meter. A leak you find on your side of the meter is a job for a plumber; a leak at the meter box or in the street goes to the city's water and sewer repairs shop at 770-535-6881.

02Test 1: the toilet dye test from the city

The department's FAQ names leaking toilets as a common cause of leaks and gives a simple test. Put food coloring or leak tablets into the tank, not the bowl, and do not flush. If color appears in the bowl within 30 minutes, you may have a leak. The FAQ says leak tablets are available in the lobby at 757 Queen City Parkway, or customer service at 770-535-6878 can mail them. A toilet leak is often a worn flapper or fill valve, which is a small repair compared with a leak in a wall or under a slab.

The FAQ also links a step-by-step PDF for locating leaks, and says that if you suspect a leak and cannot find or repair it yourself, you should contact a plumber. If the dye test is clean in every toilet, move on to the meter test below.

03Test 2: read the meter with everything off

Turn off every fixture and appliance that uses water, including ice makers and irrigation. Then look at the meter, which the city FAQ says is typically in the front yard near the street, sometimes with a blue mark or arrow painted on the pavement nearby. Do not open or work on the meter yourself: the same FAQ says only authorized City of Gainesville personnel are permitted to enter the meter box under Municipal Code Section 3-5-16, and warns that trying to resolve a meter issue on your own may damage the device. If you cannot read it safely, call customer service.

If the meter keeps moving when nothing is running, close your private shutoff valve at the house. If the meter stops, the leak is inside the house; if it keeps moving, the leak is between the meter and the shutoff, which is often the buried service line. Both are on the owner's side under the city's rule. Our burst pipe guide covers what to do when the leak turns out to be a split line.

04What a hidden leak costs on Gainesville water

Gainesville bills residential water on four tiers. The table shows the July 2026 rates for inside and outside city limits. Water lost to a leak is metered like any other water, so a leak can move a household into a higher tier for the whole month. The city's FAQ explains that the lifeline rate is provided to single-family residential customers only, for up to 2,000 gallons a month, as a below-cost rate to meet essential needs.

The FAQ also explains a unit you may see on older bills or on a meter face: a CCF is one hundred cubic feet, and one CCF equals 748 gallons. If you know roughly how many gallons a leak is losing each day, the leak cost calculator applies these published tiers. For reading the bill line by line, see the high water bill guide.

05Irrigation leaks and outdoor watering

An irrigation system is on the owner's side of the meter, and a broken head or cracked lateral can lose a lot of water without anyone noticing, especially on a timer that runs before dawn. The city's FAQ says irrigation meters have been billed at Block 3 for all consumption since January 2010, in compliance with the regional water supply and conservation plan. On a separate irrigation meter, every leaked gallon is billed at the top tier.

Georgia EPD's non-drought outdoor water use schedule, under the Georgia Water Stewardship Act, allows daily outdoor watering of landscapes only between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. for customers of EPD-permitted water systems, with exceptions such as drip irrigation and hand watering with a shut-off nozzle. If your controller is set to run in the middle of the day, fix the schedule as well as the leak. Backflow devices on irrigation are covered in the backflow guide.

06When to call a plumber for leak detection

If the dye test and the meter test point to a leak you cannot see, a plumber with leak detection equipment can narrow down where it is before anyone opens a wall or slab. Tell the plumber what you have already done: which toilets you tested, whether the meter stopped when you closed your private valve, and how the last few bills compare. That information shortens the visit.

The Free Quote Request on this page sends the details to independent plumbers who serve Gainesville and the rest of Hall County. After the repair, keep the invoice. The city publishes an Adjustment Request Form on its website, and customer service at 770-535-6878 can tell you what it requires. If you are on Flowery Branch water, its leak adjustment policy is described on the Flowery Branch page.