Overflow pipe leaking after water meter replaced

Plumbing help would be appreciated please.
Our water meter was replaced yesterday by the service provider. That evening an almighty air pocket noise occurred when I turned on the tap. This morning the water overflow pipe on the roof was trickling water into our water catchment drum and had been filling up the tank overnight. I have turned off the gate valve, the water heating and checked the copper piping for leaks. I'm wondering if not flushing the water pipe at the house after installation of the water meter has done some damage. Your opinions would be appreciated before I check in with the provider or call a plumber.

If your set up has an Ajax valve then it may have a bit of grit under the washer. Often happens when pipes are opened for work, grit and dirt get in. It is an easy DIY.

We do. Thanks maclad.

Same thing happened to us a few years ago in Papamoa. Got hold of our Plumber to fix problem and he said they had had hundreds of jobs replacing washers in Ajax valves after water meters were installed in the Tauranga area. The Contractors were paid per meter and just ripped in and installed taking no care to keep sand and soil out of the connection. Suggest you send the bill to your local council or the Contractors!
Fulton Hogan were the contractors in this instance. Had another problem with the way the meter was installed and after complaining to the council Fulton Hogan repaired the damage that they had done.

Good luck with this.
I suggest you fix it yourself, 10 or 20 minute job, little or no expense and far quicker and probably cheaper than arguing with a contractor.

Interesting, thank-you. I think it may be contagious! Our fault has been "escalated" so will see what tomorrow brings. In the meantime, Googling Ajax valve repairs for dummies.

Update from OP: the fault was in the gate valve at the meter box and this was replaced by a friendly and obliging Watercare guy at 6a.m. today. I now have overflow water stored in the bath and basins I would not normally have consumed that will be used to flush toilet, etc. Gotta eke back the cost somehow.

What would the value of the stored overflow water be?

we should never have voted to amalgamate and become one Auckland Council,oh thats right we didnt.

Auckland water is about $3 per cubic metre, so the stored water would have cost about $1 at most.

I don't see how fixing the gate valve could affect grit in the Ajax valve.

Blardy Hell! $3 /m3? I thought Kapiti was horrendous at $1.09 /m3 (plus an annual fixed line fee of $207 PA). I guess it goes with your house prices at 3 times the price of ours :)

I know though, that the cost will go up, and probably fast, and probably every year. Every time the district council needs a pay rise. The meters have only been in use here for about 2 years and there's already been one price rise.

Most of the charge is for sewage reticulation and treatment. One day everybody will have to pay for that.

To explain: initially it was suggested to me that debris could have got into the Ajax valve at the time of replacing the water meter if no flushing of pipes had been carried out. The fault actually lay with the old gate valve in the meter box which gradually failed over a couple of days to the extent that 200 litres plus passed through a "closed" valve to the house. Problem was solved with a new gate valve, hex nut and a leak rebate form to complete when the excess water bill arrives next month. I'm not bothered about how much the water costs but satisfied I was able to save it, didn't have to engage an expensive plumber and was able to get more information through this forum and Google. I'm happy with the outcome. Thank you.

Great to see a good outcome for you :)
Fully understand the stress something like this can do to you. And it happens more often in these days of user pays and everything is on the meter.

Short(ish)story:
I got a call from the power company one day to warn me that my power usage was abnormal, and the way things were tracking I would soon be receiving a power bill in the order of $1000.00! Nice of them to warn me I suppose. They sounded genuinely concerned.

Well, after the heart attack, and after checking everything I could think of checking, I engaged the plumber to come check out the known tiny leak in the pipe under the hot water cylinder. Plumber said "nothing unusual here. This is not responsible for a huge power consumption increase. Have you read the meter yourself and compared the reading to what the power company says it is?"

Best advise I ever got.

I read the meter, and found it way way way different to what the power co said. I rang them, said "Yes, I can read a meter, and guess what - your reading is about 1 year into the future".

They said "oh really? Ok, we'll have a special meter reading done, and if you are wrong, you will pay for the reading."

I was right. Power co were great after that and sorted things quick smart.

My point is though, I had to urgently take a day off work, and engage a plumber, to resolve a stressful situation (potential $1000 power bill), to prove that the lazy stupid 4 ft nothing meter reader they employed - whose sole job was to read meters - could not read a meter that was above his head height! And the little shit - who was well below the height of most power meters - would not carry around a step ladder or stool.

Maybe different in these days of digital meters, but with the old analogue dial meters, the angle of your eye makes a difference to the reading.

Yea waiting for that here too. I understand that in Auks there is a storm water charge that is derived from a percentage of the water bill. I.e. X Dollars for water in, and then X divided by something = Y dollars for water out.

Thanks, mark_g. Saving water (and electricity) is a way of life in my household and two adults manage to sit on the Watercare Usage Comparison chart at "lower limit for a single household". Genesis, our power company, provide a consumer power usage report and I can check how our average consumption matches up with my local area, currently sitting at $85 versus $140. More money for that latte!