FAQ

Usually an estimated $150 to $400 for an ordinary house, priced in writing before anyone comes and kept separate from the repair. Pipe under a driveway or a finished floor pushes it toward an estimated $300 to $800, and we tell you that while you are still deciding. We have not seen a verified Revere average, so we do not publish one.

Often because the reading, not a pipe, is the problem. Revere bills homes quarterly, so one bill covers three months; compare its number with the register on your indoor meter. If they differ, the City's Water and Sewer billing office at 319 Charger Street is the place to start. If they match, turn everything off and check the leak indicator; if it creeps, water is escaping, most often through a toilet whose tank never stops topping up.

Yes, and in Revere it is the cheapest test you have, because the City requires the meter to be indoors and reachable. With every faucet and appliance off, look at the leak indicator on its face, a small star, dial or triangle that spins at even a trickle. Movement means a leak somewhere; stillness at two readings an hour apart means very probably none.

Check with the City first; the split is its rule to explain, not ours. In Revere the meter is indoors, so the stretch that matters is the buried service from the street to the meter, and the City's Water and Sewer Department can tell you who repairs which part of it. What we can do is show exactly where along that run the water is escaping, so the conversation is about a located leak.

Call 3-1-1, or 781-286-8311, which is the City's number for reporting or asking about a water problem that is not an emergency, and 9-1-1 if water in the street is dangerous. A break in the street main is the City's to repair. If your neighbors have water and pressure and your meter turns with everything shut, the problem is more likely on your own side.

Call a plumber to fix it, but when you cannot see where it is, have it located first. Finding and fixing are two jobs with two prices, and our written report lets any licensed plumber go straight to the spot. A broken main in the road is neither job; the City handles it.

If nobody knows where the water is going, usually yes: the other option is cutting into a ceiling or trenching a yard and hoping, often in a building shared with other households. If a running toilet or a dripping faucet is already the obvious culprit, it is not, and we will say so before you book. The estimated $150 to $400 pays for a marked location with the proof.

You can narrow it down yourself at no cost, but the visit that pinpoints it is paid. Check the indoor meter with everything off, repeat with the main valve closed, and add food coloring to each toilet tank; color in the bowl without flushing means a leaking flapper. Phone for a free quote and get the written quote before deciding; you may find the visit is not needed.