My water bill doubled this month. While troubleshooting I came across info on how to check your water meter to find a leak. All the examples I found reference "turning off the main water valve IN the house". I don't have one in my house. My question is do the examples apply if you make sure all your water sources are turned off? Or if you don't have a main water valve to turn off am I wasting time using these examples?
EDIT:This is my understanding: If the water meter is turned on and all faucets are turned off and it is spinning then you have a leak between the meter and the home. Is that correct?
Do you have to have a Main Water Shut off valve inside the home to be able to tell the leak is in your home?



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Correct. This depends on where the meter is located. If the meter is in the yard and you are able to shut off water supply at point of entry of the house and the meter no longer registers usage, then the leak is inside/under the house. If meter continues usage with house turned off, then the leak is in the yard. If the meter is located in the basement, then the leak is somewhere in the house.

You may have a shutoff downstream of the meter that shuts off the water feeding the house, could be buried in the yard or in your basement. Might try going to your water heater, find the cold water pipe feeding it and trace it backwards to see if you find any shutoff valve closer to the meter.

If you are not using any water yes theoretically the meter should stop spinning unless there is a leak somewhere. A leak doesn't have to be a pipe leak, it could be as simple as a toilet tank flapper being deformed and causes water to leak into the bowl ever so slightly and the fill valve draws water when tank water level drops, or a garden hose hose bibb even turned off drips water slowly. In addition, make sure you have nothing in use that draws water like an icemaker, or a sprinkler system on a timer etc...

I've probably helped a dozen friends find the main water shutoff. If you know where the water meter is, search the entire side of the home closest to that. Start outside nearest the meter and search to both corners, then around the corner. You may have to dig, but only through debris and mulch and soil that accumulated after the home was built. Sometimes it is in a basement window well or basement entrance, particularly if the basement was remodeled after the home was built. Inside, it will be on the ground floor or possibly in the basement. If walls have been added or moved, it sometimes ends up inaccessible, but it is (almost) always there somewhere.