Have you disconnected the water in your home and looked at the meter is it still moving?
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Point taken. Our water supply was installed 12 years ago when i renovated our current house which didn’t have a water supply. The meter was installed in the underground box by Sodedo with stop tap at each side. 6 years ago the meter was replaced by one that could be read at a distance, exchanged in a couple of minutes thanks to the stop taps which clearly are a ruling brought in in recent years which older installations might not have.
Our water is supplied by Sogedo whose operatives all wear rose tinted glasses, perhaps Saur employees should do the same 
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Thanks, we’re doing that today.
You should check this security valve monthly for security reasons. However, the loss of water from this valve usually comes from an obsolete pressure regulator, which should be found at the head of your installation.
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First check: turn taps off in the house and see if the meter adapts. The taps were turned off, and the meter was still running strong, no change.
So that’s the first check done.
Next, we’ll check the other way: meter off, taps on.
I have a canette upstream for the meter that SAUR fitted way back when and I installed one on the downstream side of the PRV when I replaced that a couple of years back.
If you have multiple buildings and outdoor taps, you want to be able to shut the water off to the whole property at one point without relying on the water company’s old valve that might not have been used in decades and could be rusted open.
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heartily agree… which is why I reckon folk should (if they can) have their own stopcock nearest the meter and then wherever necessary, to isolate buildings whatever and identify problems, yet leave water available somewhere…
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Don’t forget that there is always a little pressurisation/depressurisation of the system as it’s sitting there at 3 bar, so you’ll see water flowing out of the taps for a minute or two with the stopcock shut and the meter spinning for a similar time when you open the stopcock with all the taps closed.
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Thanks for the suggestion.
A faulty pressure regulator, incorrectly adjusted regulator or the absence of a pressure regulator will cause water loss from the security valve.
The security valves also have a short life span in france due to the high calcium content of the water which builds up over time and stops the valve seating properly.
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So, just for the record: we’ve turned off the water at the meter, and re-opened the stop-valves in the house. No water is running through.
OH has checked the security valves, and thinks they are fine. Thank you, again!!
I’ve contacted the Mairie to let them know we are having issues and ask them for advice; OH is looking for a plumber.
Also, OH has found a website (I think SAUR) with the document we need to print and fill out and submit, pertaining to ‘leveling’ the water usage cost.
Onward…
Our meter is a long way from the house and runs across the land of two neighbours. As has been discussed, we are liable for leaks between the meter and our house. We’ve had two leaks over the years, both involving a large loss of water. It was only Veolia writing to us of a large increase in “usage” that alerted us to the problem. In both cases we just called a leak fixing company.
The one we used was very professional. They pump the pipe from the meter to the house full of gas and then use a “sniffer” to roughly locate the leak. Then they dig, if required with a mini-pelle carried (Thunderbird 2 like, for those of a certain age 
) in their closed truck. We’re fortunate that we know the route to the meter, because there’s about three acres it meanders across. That’d mean a lot of sniffing, which I presume one pays by the hour for.
The first leak they issued us with two invoices, one for finding the leak, which our insurer’s reimbursed, and one for fixing it, which we paid. Off the top of my head I think they were a about €200 each, but I’m sure they are filed somewhere if anyone wants the exact number. The second time the leak was quite near our house and we found the soggy ground before the professionals came so they only charged us for the repair. In both cases we forwarded the repair invoices to Veolia as proof that we’d a leak and they deducted the extra water usage from our bills. That saved us hundreds.
Our pipe is an old 6 bar one which runs across ground that has quite an incline (hence pressure drop) and a lot of stones and rocks to abrade against. Running it a 6 bar at the meter risks more leaks and even then gives poor pressure at the house. About ten years ago I installed a 3,000ltr tank under a patio that we can trickle feed from the mains and provides good pressure via a pump to the house, pool, etc. However both leaks still occurred at the low pressure we now run so after the second leak I took out leak insurance.
It’s only a matter of time 
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may I ask John, how much does that cost you and is it a different insurer to your house insurance?
I’ll look it up when I get home Graham and let you know.
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A bunch called HomeServe Graham. Veolia was the one pushing them and I took out a “reparations fuites” contract https://www.homeserve.fr My main home insurance is with Fabien.
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It is not standard in France but some insurers do offer the option (AXA for example). The option is also sometimes included by default with some insurers (like SADA for example) but the policy with Veolia (and others) are so cheap (usually less than 50e per year) then it’s often more interesting to get it insured through a third party provider rather than get it covered under your policy and potentially limit your options or increase your premium (as this type of cover often comes as part of a package on the property insurance and therefore the premium is increased quite a lot). Let’s just say that it is the “by default” position (not being covered by the property insurance for this).
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I guess the advantage of having a separate policy to cover this eventuality is specific to not having to involve making a claim on your main house policy (as discussed elsewhere) which would impact the premium cost at next renewal - even if the claim is disallowed.
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Just to add its a good idea to open and close valves a couple of times a year to check they move and close. You never know when you might need them and it helps to prevent valves seizing up.
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Hi,
OH found a good plumber, via this website: https://saur.homeserve-depannage.fr/
Apparently, there are around 4,000 independent plumbers, electricians, and so on who are signed up at this site, and you can search according to your postal code.
The plumber specifically works on leak issues, outside the house. He’s fairly local to us, coming from Le Lindois only about 15 kilometres away. He came by this morning, and after 2.5 hours working with sonar and so forth, he found and then dug and then fixed the problem. He speaks only French, and he clearly has had a lot of experience with problems like ours. So, all fixed! In this case, it was the fault of some roots having grown and caused the leak. We’ll receive a certification via the mail, which we’ll send in to the water company to receive the revisement/levelling what-have-you for our water usage. Hope this makes sense.
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