Water leak in Sheffield: is it yours or Yorkshire Water's to fix?

Water appearing where it should not is stressful enough without working out whose job it is to fix it. In Sheffield, the answer depends on exactly where the leak is. Get that right first and you avoid paying for a repair that Yorkshire Water should be doing, or waiting for Yorkshire Water to fix something that is actually yours.

The boundary rule

Yorkshire Water explains the split on its lead pipe and pipework page.

Yorkshire Water is responsible for:

• The water mains in the street.
• Stop taps in the road or pavement.
• The communication pipe, which runs from the main to your property boundary.

You are responsible for:

• The supply pipe, from your boundary to your house.
• Any stop taps on your property, inside or outside.
• All the plumbing inside your home.

If you share a supply pipe with neighbours, you are jointly responsible for it.

Where the leak is	Who fixes it
Road or pavement	Yorkshire Water
Stop tap in the pavement	Yorkshire Water
Front garden, path or drive (on the supply pipe)	You
Shared supply pipe under several gardens	The owners together
Inside the house	You
Rented home	Your landlord, once you report it

Shared pipes in Hillsborough and other terraces

This is where Sheffield gets complicated. Many Victorian terraces in Hillsborough, Walkley and Crookes were built with one supply pipe serving several houses. Yorkshire Water’s supply pipe leaks page shows examples where one leak is the responsibility of three or four properties at once.

If you are not sure whether your pipe is shared, Yorkshire Water says it can find out for you. It is worth knowing before a leak happens. Our Hillsborough area page explains the other things to look for in the older streets there.

How to tell if you have a leak

If you are on a water meter, the test is simple:

1. Turn off every tap, and make sure the washing machine, dishwasher and toilets are not filling.
2. Read the meter and note the number.
3. Wait an hour without using any water.
4. Read it again.

If the number has moved, water is escaping somewhere between the meter and your taps. If your meter is outside in the pavement, the leak could be anywhere on your supply pipe or inside. If your meter is inside, for example in the cellar, it could be inside the house.

Without a meter, look for:

• A damp patch on a path or lawn in dry weather.
• Water running sound when everything is off.
• Lower pressure than usual.
• Damp patches on walls or ceilings.
• Water in the cellar that does not match the weather.

What Yorkshire Water says to expect from a plumber

Yorkshire Water gives clear advice on what a plumber should do with a supply pipe leak. If your meter is outside your boundary, the plumber should dig at the boundary first and do a “cut and cap”. That means cutting the pipe at the boundary and capping it, then checking whether the leak stops. It proves the leak is on your side before you pay to dig up the rest.

If the leak is on your pipe, a good plumber should give you options, such as:

• Sealing the leak with a clamp.
• Replacing only the damaged section.
• Replacing the whole supply pipe.

Yorkshire Water warns that replacing the whole pipe is the most expensive option and should only be done if most of the pipe is in poor condition. When the work is finished, ask for an invoice with a full breakdown, plus photos or video.

Our leak detection service follows the same approach: find the leak with the least digging, then give you the options with a price before anything is replaced.

The leak allowance

If you are on a meter, Yorkshire Water may give you a one off allowance on your bill for water lost through the leak. Its conditions, from the supply pipe page, are:

• The leak must have been repaired, or you must have asked Yorkshire Water to look into it, within the last 28 days.
• The leak must not have been caused by your negligence.
• You can only claim once, unless a repair Yorkshire Water did is still under guarantee and leaks again.

Yorkshire Water also says that customers registered on one of its financial support schemes may qualify for a free supply pipe repair. It says it will not reimburse the cost of locating or fixing a private leak, such as a plumber, a dig team or an insurance excess.

Insurance

Many home insurance policies cover damage from an escape of water, and some cover tracing and accessing the leak. Few cover the repair of the pipe itself. Check your policy before work starts, take photos of the damage and keep every invoice.

Leaks inside the house

Inside, every leak is yours to fix. The most common in Sheffield homes are:

• Compression joints under sinks, which loosen over time.
• Washing machine valves and hoses.
• Toilet cisterns and flush valves.
• Old copper pipes in cellars, which can pinhole in the very soft water on the west side of the city.
• Heating pipes under floors, which show up as a boiler that keeps losing pressure.

If a leak is under the sink, our post on a leak under the kitchen sink walks through how to find it.

Summary

Find where the leak is. If it is in the street, report it to Yorkshire Water. If it is on your land or in your home, it is yours, and if the pipe is shared, it is shared. If you are not sure, send us a photo of where the water is showing and tell us where your meter is. We can usually tell you whose it is before anyone picks up a spade.