The first week of the Territory Government’s leak check has found 184 homes with potential problems.

With almost 800 homes checked in the first week, that’s 1 in 4.3 homes found to have a problem.

The leak checkers are part of the government’s response to Katherine’s drinking water contamination crisis.

The government is offering a $200 rebate for registered plumbers to fix the leaks.

The Living Water Smart Program has teams of people walking the streets checking homes for leaks.

Water restrictions begin in Katherine tonight to further conserve water and take a load off the town’s water treatment plant before the peak water use periods of September and October.

There are fears the plant will not be able to cope with the increased use of contaminated bore water when the river levels are low and become turbid.

The first rains of the year also flush in concentrations of Ecoli and other nasties which tax the plant as well.

The checkers have found the average leak detected in Katherine is 177,000 litres annually.

The biggest leak discovered so far is a mammoth 1,577,000 litres per year which would add $3000 to the householder’s annual bill.

The total leaked water found in Katherine so far is 32.6 million litres or almost 22 Katherine town pools

By plugging the leaks and restricting the use of garden water, authorities are hoping to cut water use by 20 per cent, which is equivalent to 650 million litres per year.

The impact on PFAS chemicals on the environment now troubling regulators.