March 15 – 21 is Fix a Leak Week (add section)
More than 1 trillion gallons of water are wasted in U.S. homes each year from easy-to-fix leaks. That’s why Tacoma Water is participating in Fix a Leak Week and we encourage you to join us.
Sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) WaterSense program, this week is an opportunity to improve the water efficiency of your home by checking for and fixing leaks. Leaks waste an average of more than 10,000 gallons of water per home each year. That’s enough water to fill up a backyard swimming pool!
Finding and fixing many leaks is easy; read more below, visit the EPA’s Fix a Leak site, or print or download our guide to Fixing and Preventing Water Leaks. The WaterWiser Drip Calculator can help you figure out exactly how much water a drip is wasting.
To check for leaks you can’t see or hear, shut off all the water-using devices in your house. Look at your water meter and note the reading and position of the sweep hand. Don’t run any water for about an hour. Then check your meter to see if the sweep hand has moved or the reading has changed. (New meters will have a moving sweep hand and a triangular low flow indicator.) If the water meter reading has changed, you probably have a hidden leak. Ignoring a leak wastes water and may result in serious damage to your home.
A silent toilet leak, often caused by a flapper that does not close completely, can waste 50-500 gallons of water per day. A silent toilet leak that wastes 250 gallons of water a day would cost a city of Tacoma resident over $40/month in water and sewer charges.
To check for toilet leaks, take the lid off the tank during a flush and watch what happens. The water should come up to the mark impressed into the ceramic of the tank. If necessary, bend the arm of the float arm down so that the re-fill valve shuts off at that water level. If the re-fill valve itself is leaking, you may want to work with a plumber.
Now, drop a little food coloring in the tank and see if it comes out of the bowl without flushing. If color appears, you probably have a leak at the flapper valve on the bottom of the tank. Flapper leaks can be caused by a worn flapper (easily replaced) or by a corroded flapper valve seat, which needs to be replaced by a plumber.
A dripping faucet that fills a cup in 10 minutes can waste over 3,200 gallons of precious water a year. Most faucet leaks are easily fixed by replacing the washers in the handles.
