Water Leaks Cost Homeowners Money

How Much Water Does a Dripping Faucet or Showerhead Waste?

The telltale sign of a leaky faucet is the steady drip, drip, drip of water splashing into the sink or tub. You can ignore this for a short time, but put the dripping faucet high on your priority list to avoid high water bills.

A very typical leak of 10 drips per minute wastes nearly one gallon per day, or 29 gallons per month. In many places, this costs less than $1 per month.

But what about fast drips? A faucet that leaks 120 drips per minute wastes 11 gallons per day, or 330 gallons per month. This could cost $6 per month, depending on where you live.

How Much Water Does a Running Toilet Use?

Since water from a leaky toilet runs straight into the sewer line, you may not notice it right away—until you get the water bill.

A constantly running toilet may waste about eight gallons per hour, or 200 gallons per day. Left unnoticed, a running toilet could waste over 6,000 gallons per month. Depending on the rate you pay for water and sewer, this could cost as much as $70 per month! And that’s assuming you only have one running toilet in your home.

Fortunately, you can detect a leaky or running toilet and stop it in its tracks. Just listen for the sound of water running or a “phantom flush” when no one has touched the handle. This is the tank refilling as water leaks into the bowl through a faulty flapper.

First, make sure the flapper isn’t caught on the chain or sitting sideways on the opening. These problems can cause the toilet to run continuously. If you hear the phantom flush, replacing the flapper should be all you need to stop a leaky toilet from wasting water.

Other High Water Bill Causes

Leaks and drips aren’t the only contributing factors to high water bills. Other wasteful practices that drive up costs include:

• Running the dishwasher partly full (wastes 320 gallons per year)
• Leaving the tap open when you brush your teeth (wastes 8 gallons per day)
• Letting the water run for five minutes while washing dishes by hand (wastes 10 gallons every time)
• Failing to fix a broken sprinkler head (wastes 2,400 gallons per month)

For more information on water conservation visit https://reginabeach.ca/water-conservation