West Country Leak Detection
Menu

Water leak detection across Devon

Leak detection across Devon locates hidden leaks in homes from Torquay and Newton Abbot to Barnstaple and Tiverton, on the pipes indoors, the heating and the buried supply pipe. West Country Leak Detection covers 59 Devon districts, with Plymouth and Exeter on pages of their own.

Find your Devon town

The two cities: leak detection in Plymouth and leak detection in Exeter.

A leak on an older terraced house's supply pipeA section through the front of an older terraced house. The supply pipe runs from the main in the road under the pavement and the front garden to the house, and water is shown escaping close to the house wall.PavementFront gardenSupply pipeA leak on an older terraced house's supply pipeA section through the front of an older terraced house. The supply pipe runs from the main in the road under the pavement and the front garden to the house, and water is shown escaping close to the house wall.PavementFront gardenSupply pipe
Diagram: an older terraced house with a leak on its supply pipe under the front garden.
Properties built before 1919 in Devon County Council's area
24.7%
VOA, 31 March 2026
Properties built before 1919 in Torbay
27.6%
VOA, 31 March 2026
Households in a flat or room within a converted or shared house in Torbay
9.3%
Census 2021

Source: Office for National Statistics, Census 2021, licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0

Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties, 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Which Devon towns and districts fall within the service area?

The Devon towns within the service area include Torquay, Paignton, Newton Abbot, Exmouth, Barnstaple, Bideford, Tiverton, Teignmouth, Tavistock, Totnes and Okehampton, across 59 districts in the EX, PL and TQ areas, with Plymouth and Exeter on pages of their own.

Exeter
EX1, EX2, EX3, EX4, EX5, EX6
Dawlish
EX7
Exmouth
EX8
Budleigh Salterton
EX9
Sidmouth
EX10
Ottery St Mary
EX11
Seaton
EX12
Axminster
EX13
Honiton
EX14
Cullompton
EX15
Tiverton
EX16
Crediton
EX17
Chulmleigh
EX18
Winkleigh
EX19
North Tawton, Okehampton
EX20
Beaworthy
EX21
Holsworthy
EX22
Colyton
EX24
Barnstaple
EX31, EX32
Braunton
EX33
Ilfracombe, Woolacombe
EX34
Lynmouth, Lynton
EX35
South Molton
EX36
Umberleigh
EX37
Torrington
EX38
Bideford
EX39
Plymouth
PL1, PL2, PL3, PL4, PL5, PL6, PL7, PL8, PL9
Lifton
PL16
Tavistock
PL19
Yelverton
PL20
Ivybridge
PL21
Torquay
TQ1, TQ2
Paignton
TQ3, TQ4
Brixham
TQ5
Dartmouth
TQ6
Kingsbridge
TQ7
Salcombe
TQ8
Totnes, South Brent
TQ9
South Brent
TQ10
Buckfastleigh
TQ11
Newton Abbot
TQ12, TQ13
Teignmouth
TQ14

The Plymouth and Exeter rows above belong to the two city pages, which go further into each city's housing and water: leak detection in Plymouth for the PL districts of the city and leak detection in Exeter for its EX districts. Neighbouring counties' codes are in the index of every postcode district covered.

Which hidden leaks does a Devon investigation look for?

A Devon investigation deals with four kinds of hidden leak: in the indoor plumbing, in the central heating, in the supply pipe under the ground, and in the cases insurers ask to have traced.

In a Devon farmhouse, a seaside flat or a terrace in a market town, the choice depends on which pipe is losing water. West Country Leak Detection traces the pipework of homes; a leaking roof or a blocked drain is not part of this work.

  • Water leak detection

    The NRLA tells tenants that water stains on walls, ceilings or floors can show as discolouration, peeling paint or bubbling wallpaper.

    Water leak detection for pipes in walls, floors and ceilings

    Pipe
    Hot and cold water pipework and fittings inside the property
    What points to it
    Damp patches or stains, peeling paint or bubbling wallpaper, a musty smell, running water with every tap off
    Methods
    Acoustic listening, thermal imaging on hot pipes, moisture mapping, pressure testing and tracer gas

  • Central heating leak detection

    Pressure that keeps falling can start somewhere else in the heating, Ideal says, so it does not always point to a faulty boiler.

    Central heating leak detection

    Pipe
    The sealed heating circuit: radiators and their valves, flow and return pipes, underfloor heating loops
    What points to it
    A boiler gauge that keeps falling below 1 bar, damp spots or rust marks around radiators, a wet patch around underfloor heating
    Methods
    Pressure testing, loop by loop for underfloor heating, then thermal imaging or tracer gas

  • Underground water leak detection

    A hiss or knock near the internal stop tap is one of Wessex Water's signs of a leak, and WaterSafe ties noisy pipes to the supply pipe.

    Underground water leak detection

    Pipe
    The supply pipe buried between the property boundary and the house
    What points to it
    A meter dial still moving with the internal stop tap closed, an unexplained rise in a metered bill, wet ground or lush grass outside
    Methods
    Acoustic listening along the pipe's route, and tracer gas where the leak is quiet

  • Trace and access

    Keoghs, solicitors to the insurance industry, advises keeping broken parts and pipework until the insurer says they can go.

    Trace and access for an escape of water claim

    Pipe
    Water pipes, the central heating or the buried supply pipe, wherever the escaping water starts
    What points to it
    A home insurer asking for the leak's source to be traced before the claim proceeds
    Methods
    The method that suits the pipe, with the leak's position, the access needed, photographs and the cause where known recorded

Which pipe does South West Water look after in Devon, and which is yours?

In Devon, the water main and the pipe from it to the boundary of the street it runs in belong to South West Water, as do the external stop tap and the meter, while the homeowner owns the supply pipe beyond that boundary, up to the internal stop tap inside the house.

Where the main is not in the road outsideWhen the water main is not laid in the road outside, South West Water says the boundary of the street is extended by 18 metres from the centre of the road. Its pipe runs to that line, and the supply pipe beyond it is the homeowner's.South West WaterHomeowner18 metresRoadLaneWhere the main is not in the road outsideWhen the water main is not laid in the road outside, South West Water says the boundary of the street is extended by 18 metres from the centre of the road. Its pipe runs to that line, and the supply pipe beyond it is the homeowner's.South West WaterHomeowner18 metresRoadLane
Diagram: South West Water's 18 metre rule for a main that is not in the road outside.

Plenty of Devon homes front a lane with no main under it. In that case South West Water measures the boundary of the street 18 metres out from the centre of the road, and its pipe runs only as far as that line.

Once South West Water finds a leak on the owner's side, its leakage notice sets a repair deadline of anywhere from 10 to 30 days, depending on how severe the leak is, and the company can do the repair itself under the Water Industry Act 1991 and charge reasonable expenses.

Its help comes with conditions of its own. South West Water's free leak detection on underground pipes, which lasts up to half an hour, sits beside contributions towards the repair, provided the pipework is repaired or replaced within 30 days of you becoming aware of the leak; it contributes only once while you own the property, and on a jointly owned pipe it contributes to every household that paid towards the repair. None of this is West Country Leak Detection's to offer: the free half hour belongs to South West Water. The same 30 days applies to a leak allowance on a metered bill.

What do Devon's older homes and private water supplies mean for a leak search?

Devon's older homes and private water supplies change a leak search in two ways: about a quarter of properties in Devon County Council's area (24.7%) were built before 1919, when South West Water says lead pipes were often used, and a home on a private water supply, which no water company provides, has no water company pipe and no water company leak help.

Torbay's stock is older still, with 27.6% of its properties built before 1919 (VOA, 31 March 2026), and 9.3% of Torbay households live in a flat or room within a converted or shared house (Census 2021).

Private supplies are uncommon nationally. About 1% of people in England use one, the Drinking Water Inspectorate says, most of them in remote, rural areas, and local councils, not water companies, regulate them.

Old walls limit the instruments too. Historic England's research found that moisture meters set up for timber read stone, brick and plaster unreliably, so in an old Devon wall the readings are compared spot against spot and the wettest area is located before plaster or paving is broken.

Which reservoirs and rivers supply Devon's taps?

Roadford Reservoir and the River Tamar supply South West Water's Roadford zone, which runs from Plymouth, the South Hams and Torbay to Bideford and Barnstaple, while Wimbleball Reservoir and the River Exe supply the Wimbleball zone around Exeter and East Devon, where boreholes add harder groundwater.

Wimbleball is shared: Wessex Water draws on it as well. And East Devon is the exception in South West Water's soft-water area, its water coming from boreholes drilled deep underground and classed as slightly or moderately hard.

How do you report a leak to South West Water in Devon?

Report a leak anywhere in Devon on South West Water's Leaks page, which takes reports through its online form, WhatsApp and social media.

A reading helps any report. Over 88% of South West Water's household customers pay a metered or equivalent charge, and the meters generally sit outside, in the footpath or front garden. Where the dial shows water escaping on the homeowner's side, tracing it is work for West Country Leak Detection anywhere in Devon.