Save Water - Stop Those Restroom Leaks
If you’re looking to conserve water or just reduce your water bill then one of the first thing you can do yourself is to go around your home doing a quick water usage audit. Sure, changing your behavior is one way to control your water usage, but an even bigger savings may come in finding and fixing all those little drips and leaks around your bathroom that can end up costing you hundreds of dollars in water usage over the years.
The bathroom is the most likely place to find a majority of minor water leaks that are fixable. It has the most outlets for water in most homes and it gets a lot of usage, so it’s understandable if sinks, toilets and showers start to leak after years of repeated daily use. Here, then, are some common leaks to look for:
Leaky Sink Faucet: A sink faucet that drips can be annoying, but most people don’t think much of it until they realize how much water they’re wasting each day. If you really want to know, put a cup under the dripping faucet for an hour and see how much water you collected. Was it a full 8 ounces? Now multiply that by 24 hours and you’re wasting over a gallon of water per day! Most dripping faucets can be fixed by replacing the rubber washer in the spout. You may have to take the tip of the spout off and dig out the old washer to get the right size. This is a pretty easy fix in most cases, though different sink designs sometimes make it a little trickier than others.
Leaking Shower/Tub Combo: If you’re bathroom has a full tub with a shower in it, then you probably have a diverter knob you have to turn to make the water come out of the shower head or the bathtub faucet. The valve behind this can wear out over time, which means you’ll be losing water through the tub faucet when you take a shower. With a screwdriver and wrench you can probably take out and fix the entire shower diverter internal workings. It’s an inexpensive fix and it could save you lots of money in water bills over time.
Intermittently Running Toilet: A constantly running toilet can often be fixed with a cheap plastic part called the toilet flapper. This repair often requires no special tools at all, though you may have to turn off the water to the toilet when you make the repair. The toilet flapper separates the toilet tank from the bowl and it wears out over time. It’s often difficult to measure how much water a leaky toilet flapper really wastes, but it’s still a repair worth tackling.
Fixing these common leaks is a great way to save water and money at the same time. The sooner you fix these leaks, the sooner you’ll reduce your water bill. Remember that leaks can actually become more damaging over time, so if you find a leak it’s always best to fix it sooner rather than later.