A man is facing 174 stealing charges after pocketing about $10,000 from selling water meters he had stolen south of Brisbane for the past two years, police will allege.

He had been stealing water meters from unit blocks, homes and businesses in the Logan area since 2017 and had sold them for scrap metal.

Logan Criminal Investigation Branch detectives began an investigation into the theft in 2017, using a variety of overt and covert strategies with the assistance of the Logan City Council.

Detectives had found multiple water meters in his Logan Central home when the man was arrested on Saturday.

The 44-year-old will appear in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court on January 14 for stealing charges.