Tracking down stubborn leaks to save water and money
Hidden leaks around the house or in exterior infrastructure can sap your water supply and jack up your bills. If you suspect a leak, follow these steps to figure out where all that water is going and how to stop it.
Look at the Meter
Your water meter should have a leak detector that moves to indicate unwanted water usage. You can check this or read the meter, wait about an hour without using any water, then read it again. A change could indicate the presence of a leak.
Should you find a problem, shut off the water to your home from the main valve and go have another look at the leak indicator. An exterior leak will cause it to continue to move while no movement suggests a leak inside the house.
Check the Usual Suspects
Faucets and toilets are the most obvious sources of indoor water leaks. Check faucets for drips or water seeping out around the seams of fixtures. Toilet leaks can be assessed by putting a few drops of food coloring into the tank when the toilet isn’t running and waiting to see if the color shows up in the bowl.
Test the Supply Line
Leaks may develop in the water supply line between the water main and your meter or between the meter and the house. The presence of water in the meter box or consistently wet soil where the line emerges from the ground are good indicators that a leak is present. Contact your utility company if you suspect a supply line leak. Depending on the location, it may be their responsibility to fix it.
Look Around the Yard
Even if the supply line is fine, there could be other problems underground. If you spot sinkholes, potholes, heaving or cracking pavement or random wet spots around the yard, it’s likely that there’s something wrong. Seeing rust or dirt when you run water indoors or experiencing sudden loss of water pressure are also common signs of a leak.
Finding a leak is only half the battle. Once you know where the water is going, contact us at ABC Home & Commercial Services. We’ll send out one of our plumbing specialists to evaluate the leak and get it fixed right away so you can stop paying for water you aren’t using.
Comments
It is definitely good to know that the most common places where leaks occur are the faucet and the toilet. Those are definitely two areas that I would have thought to check, however, it is good to know for sure. There is nothing worse than having a leak in your home. Leaks can do a lot of damage to your house and they can make your bills more expensive. It is important that you check for leaks regularly so that you can avoid any serious problems.
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I never had any idea that there was a water meter that you could use to check for leaks. It sounds like this is a really helpful tip and can be a great way to know if you have a leak. I think that a lot of the problem is somewhere around the supply line because there is a point that is always wet between the meter box and the house. I should probably get this figured out soon so that I don’t have to keep dealing with a leak, since it can make my water cost go up. Thank you for the great post! http://www.serviceplumber.com
A really good place for a leak to develop is at the base of your faucet. Whether it is in the kitchen, or bathroom, or an outside faucet, the results can really raise your utility bill. It is important to get the problem rectified as soon as possible in order to avoid high water bills.
Eric | http://www.blakesplumbingandheating.net/
Thanks for the information. My cousins’ home has the absolute worst plumbing in the world. Their toilets are hardly able to flush anything down. Anyway, I wonder if it’s possible that they have a water leak, just like you mentioned. I’m going to tell them to check their meter to see if there are any signs of damage. I’ll also have them call a plumber to come take a look. http://www.mildrenplumbinginc.com/services/
I never knew that a simple leak could cause such an increase in the water bill. You would think that you aren’t really using that much water, but I guess even the slow leaks are very hard on the bill. It does give you a good incentive to start fixing the plumbing in the house. http://www.actionplumbingandheating.com/
One more tidbit, It might not be a leak at all, but rather uncontrolled water flow. This we usually associate with a dripping faucet, but it can manifest itself in a few other ways. The most common is a toilet whose tank device continually delivers a steady flow of water to the bowl. this is easy to diagnose as the toilet will continue making filling noises even after the water should have all been replaced in the tank. The usual culprit is the chain getting stuck in the plug of the tank.
Eric | http://www.goldcoastplumber.com.au/
We stay in a really old house; and my water bill was insanely high; turns out the leak was at the water geyser itself http://plumbersdirectory.co.za/gauteng/centurion/
Thank you for this information. I was not aware about the water meter. This blog is really helpful as it tell us about the functioning of water meter. Now, with the help of this meter we can find out the leakage problem whether it is in kitchen, bathroom, or an outside faucet. If we found any leaky pipe, then we will call an experienced plumber for repairing.
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