You may be throwing money down the drain.
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 9/14/2014 1:00:00 AM
A couple of years ago, I decided to change the flapper in one of my toilets, because I could hear what sounded like a very slight hissing sound, that I thought might be a leak. It was barely noticeable. You could only hear it if there was complete silence, and you were very close to it. It didn't seem important, so I ignored it for several weeks before I decided to get the new flapper.
Coincidentally that particular week, New York City created a feature that lets you monitor your water usage in real time from their web site. I popped onto the site and I couldn't believe what I saw, in a graph showing my day-by-day usage.
That TINY leak was actually costing me $11 a day
In the graph, I could see my typical water usage climb each day, then suddenly drop to a fraction of that amount... on the exact day that I had fixed the flapper. All together, that flapper leak cost me over $320 on my next bill.
The lesson, If you have a small leak, that could be costing you money every day without you even knowing about it.
How to check for a leaking toilet flapper
1. The simplest method is to turn off the valve under the toilet for a little while, then look at how much water is still in the tank. If the water level in the tank is lower or if the tank is empty, you have a leak.
2. Another trick is to get some food coloring and add it to the tank. If the tank isn't leaking, the color will remain in the tank until you flush it, but if there is any color in the bowl before you flush, you have a leak.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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