Quick Answer
If the house will be empty for more than a day or two, turn the water off at the meter before you leave. If something needs water while you’re away, leave it on and turn off the washing machine and dishwasher taps instead. Check hoses and gutters the week before, write down the meter reading, and read it again when you get home.
A leak is a nuisance when you’re home. When nobody is home for two weeks, a split hose under a sink can run day and night, through the floor and into the walls, and the first anyone knows of it is the smell when the front door opens.
Most of that risk can be taken away in half an hour before you leave. Here is the list we’d run through for our own homes.
Turn the water off?
For an empty house, yes. The main stop tap is beside the water meter, usually at the front boundary. Turning it clockwise to close it means nothing inside can flood, whatever fails. Try it a few days before you go: an old stop tap that is stiff or won’t close fully is better found now than in an emergency.
Leave it on if something needs it: an irrigation system, a pool top-up, or someone staying in or checking on the house. In that case, turn off the taps to the washing machine and dishwasher, which are among the most common sources of a flood.
In an apartment, look for your unit’s own isolation valve, often in the kitchen, laundry or a meter cupboard. If your building only has one valve for everyone, turn off the appliance taps instead.
The week before
Check every braided hose under the sinks, the basins and the toilets. Rust on the braid, fraying, bulges or damp fittings mean it should be replaced before you go. Our guide to spotting a failing flexi hose shows what to look for.
Listen to the toilets. A cistern that keeps running or refilling wastes water the whole time you’re away if the water is left on. Our guide to a toilet that keeps running covers the usual causes.
Fix the drip you’ve been ignoring. A leaking tap or a damp patch under the sink only gets worse with nobody around.
Write down the meter reading, or take a photo of it, on the morning you leave.
Hot water
There is no need to drain a hot water system for a holiday. For a trip of more than a few days, many people switch an electric storage system off at its switch or circuit, or set a gas storage system to its vacation or pilot setting, to save running it for nobody. Heat pump and solar systems often have a holiday mode of their own.
Follow the instructions for your model, and remember it will need a few hours to reheat when you’re back. If the system is old, or showing rust or water at its base, get it looked at before you go rather than after.
Storm season
Sydney’s summer storms don’t wait for you to be home. Before you leave, clear the gutters and downpipes, and check the stormwater pits and grates in the yard are free of leaves and soil. A blocked gutter in a downpour can overflow into the eaves or the ceiling.
Our storm season checklist for gutters and downpipes goes through it step by step. Turn off and coil the garden hose too: a hose left under pressure in the sun can split.
When you get home
Read the meter before you turn the water back on. If you turned it off, the reading should be exactly where you left it.
Turn the water on slowly at the stop tap, then walk through the house and look under every sink and around every toilet for drips.
Run every tap and shower and flush every toilet. Air can splutter out at first, which is normal. Running each one also refills the water seals in the floor wastes and traps: a trap that dries out over a hot fortnight lets sewer smells into the house. Our guide to why a drain smells explains more.
Turn the hot water back on and give it time to heat before the first shower.
If something has gone wrong while you were away, we take calls 24/7, including over Christmas and public holidays. Our leak detection service finds hidden leaks without opening up more than we need.
FAQs
Should I turn off the water when I go on holiday?
If the house will be empty for more than a day or two, turning the water off at the meter is the simplest protection: a burst hose can’t flood an empty house if there is no water behind it. Leave it on only if something needs it, such as an irrigation system or a house-sitter, and turn off the washing machine and dishwasher taps instead.
Should I turn off my hot water system when I go away?
For a longer trip, many people switch an electric storage system off, or set a gas one to its vacation or pilot setting, to save energy. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your system, and allow time for it to reheat when you get back. Heat pump and solar systems have their own settings.
How can I tell if there was a leak while I was away?
Write down the water meter reading before you leave and read it again when you get home. If you turned the water off, the reading should not have moved. If you left it on, compare the change with what any irrigation or house-sitter would have used. A big jump with no explanation points to a leak.
Came Home to a Leak?
Mr. Clog takes calls 24/7 across Sydney, including over Christmas and public holidays, with no call-out fee and a fixed price before any work starts.