Frozen or cracked water meter (수도계량기 동파): what to do and who replaces it

How to tell it is the meter

• The dial face is white or cloudy — ice has formed inside the meter body.
• The glass is cracked or the meter body has bulged — the ice has already split it.
• Water is pooling or spraying inside the box — the meter or the joint next to it has failed.
• The box lid will not lift — in ground-level villa boxes, snow and meltwater can freeze the lid shut. Pour lukewarm water around the rim, not on the meter.

A meter with a clear dial and taps that are dry, points the other way: the ice is in the pipes on your side. That case is covered in frozen pipes in Korea.

If water is escaping: stop it first

Most meter boxes have a valve on the pipe beside the meter. A lever is closed when it sits across the pipe; a round handle closes clockwise. If it is frozen stiff, do not force it — a snapped valve body turns a slow leak into a flood. Instead, look for a second shut-off inside the unit (often near the kitchen sink or the boiler on the veranda), or ask the management office to close the supply to your line. Then move anything electrical away from the water.

Why the waterworks, not a plumber, replaces it

In Korea the meter is installed, sealed and owned by the local water authority, even though it sits in your corridor or on your wall. The pipe from the street up to the meter is generally theirs to repair as well. From the meter onward — every pipe, valve and tap in the building — is the private side, looked after by the building owner. So a cracked meter is reported to the waterworks and replaced by them; anything wrong after it is a job for the owner's plumber.

How to report it

1. Photograph the meter with the serial number and the damage both visible, and a wider shot of the box with your unit number if the meters are in a row.
2. Call the waterworks. In Seoul, 120 has an English option and will route you. Elsewhere, use the number on your water bill. Give your address and say the meter is frozen or broken.
3. Tell your landlord in writing the same day, with the photos and when you reported it.

If you need to say it in Korean:

수도계량기가 동파됐습니다. 교체 신고하려고 합니다.
주소는 (○○구 ○○동 ○○, ○○호)입니다. 계량기 사진도 있습니다.

Villas: make sure it is your meter

Older villas often line up every unit's meter in one box at the entrance or under the stairs, and the labels fade. Before closing a valve or reporting a number, check which meter moves when you open a tap at home. When the crisis is over, write your unit number on the inside of the lid with a marker — the next cold morning will be shorter.

Things not to do

• No boiling water on the meter, and no lighter, torch or heat gun. The glass and body crack, and the old cloth and insulation stuffed in the box can catch fire.
• Do not unscrew or remove the meter. It is sealed, and breaking the seal causes problems of its own with the waterworks.
• Do not keep tightening a valve that will not turn.

After the new meter: what is still on your side

Once the replacement is in, open each tap one at a time and look for spitting air and brown water, which should clear within a minute or two. Then close everything and watch the dial. If it still creeps, a pipe on your side split while it was frozen — sometimes inside a wall, sometimes along the veranda. That is where leak detection comes in. To keep it from happening again, stuff the box with dry cloth in a plastic bag and seal the lid gaps; the rest of the winter routine is in our frozen pipes guide, and who to call first sorts the other winter cases.

Questions people ask at the meter box

Who pays for a new meter?

That is decided by the local waterworks' own rules, which differ by city and can depend on the cause. Ask when you report it — they will tell you. Between tenant and landlord, the usual starting point is the lease and whether the unit was heated; send your landlord the photos and the report details either way.

Can a plumber just swap the meter so I get water back today?

No — the meter is sealed equipment owned by the waterworks, and replacing it is their job. What a plumber can do on the same day is everything behind it: thaw the pipe from the meter to your taps, fix a split connection on your side, and check for leaks once the new meter is in.

The new meter is in and the taps are still dry.

Then the ice is further along, on your side of the meter — often the first metre or two of pipe leaving the box, or a run along an outside wall. Open a tap, keep the unit warm, and if nothing changes within a couple of hours, text us a photo of the meter box and the dry tap.

Meter replaced, still no water?

Text us a photo of the meter box and the tap that is still dry, with your building type and floor. We tell you where the ice is likely to be, and if it is a visit, the price is confirmed on site before work starts. English by text (SMS) works best. Phone calls are fine in Korean or Japanese.