Meter or pipework: a simple test
Turn off every tap, don’t run the washing machine or dishwasher, and watch the dial. Most meters have a small star wheel or red pointer that turns at the slightest flow. If it moves with everything off, something is leaking. Most often it is a toilet cistern quietly overflowing into the bowl, or a dripping tap. To be sure, note the reading at night and again in the morning when nobody has used water: the difference is what is leaking away.
If the pointer stays still with a tap running, the meter has probably seized. Then it gets replaced, not repaired: flat water meters aren’t taken apart.
Rather hand the job over? More here: plumbing services in Warsaw.
Elster meters in older blocks
Elster is a meter brand that now belongs to the Honeywell group. Plenty of Warsaw blocks still have Elster meters from earlier rounds of replacement. The new meter doesn’t have to be the same brand. It has to match the fitting length and thread, and the building office has to accept it.
The legalisation year is on the body or the seal. If it has expired, the office will ask for a new meter whether the old one works or not.
Things not to do
- Put magnets on the meter or tap it. That counts as tampering, and cooperative rules set penalties for it.
- Replace the meter before checking the cistern. A new meter will show exactly the same.
- Break the seal yourself. A broken seal causes billing trouble even if you touched nothing else.
- Leave a dripping nut next to the meter for later. That water has already gone through the meter and onto your bill.
Before you book a replacement
- Run the all-taps-off test and film the dial for a few seconds.
- Check the legalisation year on the body.
- Ask the office who seals the new meter and whether they want a specific model.
- Clear access to the meter and the valve in front of it.
Booking in the app
- Describe what is happening and add photos and the test video. From those a plumber can tell straight away whether it is the meter or a leak.
- Bids come in from plumbers, each with his own price and date. You compare them alongside ratings and reviews, pick one, and then the phone number and address unlock.
- You pay the plumber directly for the work, and he issues the invoice.
The meter, washers and a new valve if needed are paid separately from the labour. The plumber answers for the joints he made and redoes his own fitting. Old pipes, the riser and other people’s connections nearby are not on him.
Work on the meter only with the water shut off and a bowl under the nuts.
Order in the app
Describe the job, add photos and the address. Tradespeople send their own prices and dates, and you pick one of the offers.
Open the app
