Leak Detection and Repair in Phoenix

From the meter inward, one step at a time. First we turn off every fixture, appliance, softener and irrigation zone and watch the meter. If it still moves, water is leaving the system past the meter. Then we split the building into pieces: close the house or building valve to see whether the leak is in the yard line or inside, then isolate hot from cold. Our walkthrough of the water meter leak test covers the same steps.

Once the leak is boxed into one run, the tools come out. An acoustic listening device picks up the hiss of pressurized water through concrete or soil. A thermal camera shows a hot water line leaking under a slab as a warm streak. A section-by-section pressure test confirms which run is losing pressure, and tracer gas finds the hard ones. You get a marked spot, not a guess. More on methods is on our leak detection page.

The owner, for anything after the meter. Phoenix Water Services says the street-to-meter side is the city's and everything after the meter is the property owner's, including the pressure regulator. If water is bubbling up at the meter box or in the street, that is a city call, and the Water Services emergency line, 602-261-8000, will send field staff to shut the water off. If the leak is in your yard, under your slab or inside a wall, it is yours. The Phoenix water line responsibility page has the city's wording.

Between a landlord and tenant, or an HOA and an owner, the lease or the CC&Rs decide who pays for the repair. The city only cares about the meter.

Phoenix sets your monthly sewer charge from your water use in the January, February and March billing cycles. A running toilet, a slab leak or a broken irrigation line in those months inflates that average, and the higher sewer fee then rides along on every bill for the year. Most people fix the leak and never connect it to the sewer line on the bill.

The fix is a Sewer Fee Review. You can file it through myPHX311 or by mail, and the request has to reach the city within 60 days of the July bill date. The city says exceptions are not granted. Attach the repair invoice as a PDF; photos and screenshots of documents are not accepted. Ask for the invoice as a PDF and keep it with the bill.

The leak's location and the pipe's condition decide. A single pinhole in a sound copper line gets a spot repair. A hot water line leaking under a slab can be opened and repaired, or abandoned and rerouted through the attic or walls, and our page on rerouting versus breaking the slab in Phoenix lays out the trade-offs. A line that has leaked in three places is telling you the next leak is coming, and a partial or full repipe starts to make sense.

The permit line in Phoenix is clear. Stopping a leak is exempt. Removing defective concealed pipe and replacing it with new material is new work, so it needs a permit and an inspection before the wall or trench closes. We pull it when the job crosses that line and tell you before we start.

Three local causes show up again and again. Pressure: the city's design manual requires a private regulator where static pressure tops 80 psi, and Water Services warns that high pressure can damage pipes and appliances. A failed regulator puts full street pressure on every joint, so it belongs on the checklist for any leak. Heat: Phoenix amended its plumbing code so plastic water pipe and valves cannot sit exposed outdoors, because the sun softens and cracks them, and older exposed plastic risers are a common outdoor leak. Hard water: the city's 2025 water quality report lists hardness of 10 to 17.6 grains per gallon, and that scale wears valves and fittings.

The method is the same, but there are more places for the water to go. A leak in a retail center or apartment building can be one tenant's fixture, a shared line under the slab, or the landscape system on its own meter. Tell us when each space can have its water shut off, because isolating a shared line means closing valves that other tenants use. For larger sites see commercial leak detection and property management plumbing. If a line has burst, start with emergency service.

If the cause is visible, skip the equipment. A toilet that runs, a dripping hose bib, an irrigation valve stuck open or a softener cycling all day can each move the meter, and each needs a repair, not a search. Check those first; turn off the irrigation controller and watch the meter again. If it stops, the leak is outdoors on the landscape side.

Call with the address, whether it is a home or a business, and what you have noticed: a bill, a sound, a warm floor or a wet spot. We offer 24/7 emergency service, free estimates and upfront pricing before work starts, and we work across Phoenix.