When you want to reduce your water bill, most people immediately begin thinking about ways of cutting back on water usage or changing their behavior by limiting washings buying expensive water conserving appliances. While these things certainly can’t hurt, many people overlook a much more basic culprit of wasting water: all their leaky bathroom faucets and toilets!
The bathroom is the most likely room to find a majority of minor water leaks that are preventable. The bathroom almost always has the most water outlets and is one of the most heavily used rooms in any home. Here are some are few common leaks you may find and be able to fix in a bathroom:
Sink Faucet Drips: A sink faucet that leaks can be annoying, but most people don’t think much of it until they realize how much water they’re wasting each day. Try this: place a paper cup under the leaking faucet and see how much water you collect in an hour and then multiply that amount by 24 hours. Chances are, you’ll be shocked by how much water you’re wasting. In most cases you can get to the old washers in a sink faucet by taking off the handles (a screwdriver may be required) or by twisting off the spout tip. Each bathroom faucet is a little different, so you may need to dig out the manual or take your best guess about how to replace the washers in your faucet.
Leaky Shower/Tub Diverter: If you have a shower and bathtub combination in your bathroom then you probably have a shower diverter knob which allows you to divert the water from the tub faucet to the shower head. They come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, but they all are prone to wear over time. Eventually these shower diverters leak and need to be fixed. Most work by pushing a little valve with a rubber seal back and forth. Over time that rubber can get dirty and crack and break as it dries out. This means that when you take a shower you’ll see water coming out from your tub faucet. That water is falling down the drain and being wasted.
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.
There are many affordable ways to improve your house. You can visit the author’s website for more plumbing house improvement tips and tricks.