Finding Leaks in Your Home. Are you still trying to conserve water, but your water bill is still a little high? You may have a water leak. Water leaks in homes waste almost 1 TRILLION GALLONS OF WATER PER YEAR nationwide. That’s a lot of water, especially when California is in such a drought and water regulations are in place.
So where could these leaks be in your home?
Leaks in a home, although minor, may consume 90 gallons of water per day. This adds up to almost 10,000 gallons PER HOUSEHOLD. Many leaks are easy fixes with easy fixes like worn toilet flappers, faucets that drip, and other leaking valves. Fixing these could save about ten percent on monthly water bills.
How can you tell if you have a leak?
Make a note of a water bill showing your water consumption. If it exceeds 12,000 gallons for the month and you’re not watering or filling a pool, you certainly could have a leak.
Perhaps turn all your water off checking your water meter within a two-hour period. If no water is used during that time, great! However, if there is some water flowing through during that time, you probably have a leak.
Leaking Toilets
Toilet leaks are easy to identify because you put a few drops of food coloring in the tank and see if it seeps into the toilet bowl. If the food coloring does show up within 10 minutes, you have a leak. (After you have tested, flush immediately as not to stain the bowl)
Another way to tell your toilet flapper is not working properly is if the toilet keeps refilling itself repeatedly. Replace the flapper to fix the leak.
Leaking Faucets and Shower Heads
Did you know you could lose more than 3,000 gallons of water per year by just one leaky faucet? That is more than 180 showers! Fixing the old and warn washer and gaskets in the faucet generally will cure the leak.
Your leaking shower head can also waste up to 500 gallons of water per year which is like washing 60 dishwasher loads. Fixing this may be as easy as tightening the shower head connection; however, it may take more of a professional to make the repair.
Leaks in Your Irrigation System
This type of leak may be harder to determine but is one of your biggest waste of water consumption. Even a 1/32nd of an inch leak in your irrigation system, can waste around 6,300 gallons of water PER MONTH. Generally, you will need a professional to come out to check to see if your system has a leak and make the repairs.
Oh, garden hoses can also leak by having torn or hardened washers. This is an easy 5 cent fix by just replacing the washers in your hose.
Rebates
You may want to change some of your toilets, faucets or showerheads to more “WaterSense” models. The EPA has a list of water saving products and possible rebates if you click this link – WaterSense.
It’s up to all of us to do our best to save water here in Coachella Valley.
Information and images from www.epa.gov.