Detecting a Leak to Save Water
A simple way to save water in your home
There are extensive ways to save water that may cause a lot of sacrifice. Such as detecting water leaks in your home. One of the biggest culprits of water waste is leaky faucets, toilets, and faulty pipes. All the small drips for failing fixtures add up to over 1 trillion gallons of waste water per year.
Think about this:
1. A dripping faucet can leak 20 gallons of water per day.
2. A running toilet can leak about 2 gallons per minute and waste over 7,000 gallons of water per month
3. The average home loses 2,000 to 20,000 gallons of water per year due to leaks.
Fortunately detecting leaks are fairly easy. One way is to use a fluorescent dye that detects water leaks. Leak detecting dyes are all non-toxic and will not leave a stain. The dye works best for toilets , put the fluorescent dye in your toilet tank wait for about twenty minutes. Do not flush the toilet. After 20 minutes check the toilet bowl. If you see that the bowl has any dye in it, your toilet is leaking. Fixing a running toilet can be as easy as replacing the flapper. Which is usually the cause of most toilet leaks?
Faucets, shower heads. If you can see the faucet or shower head dripping while, it is shut off. Count the drips, each drip within a one minute span accounts for 35 gallons of water per year. So if you have 20 drips in a minute. That leak is wasting 700 gallons of water per year. Here is the math: (35*20=700). Unfortunately there are many different types of faucets which require different parts to repair the leak. It is suggested that you let a professional perform this task for you.
Now to get an overall perspective on your house's leaks, which you cannot detect. The first step is shut off all the water in your home so that no water is running. Most homes have a main shut off valve. If you don't have a main shut of valve. Make sure you turn off the water valve that goes to your fridge's ice machine. If you are doing this manually you will also have to go under each sink and turn off each valve. While the whole water system is turned off record the data on your water meter or place a mark on the water meter it showing the location of the needle. Now wait about twenty minutes. If the needle's position has changed then you have a leak.
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There can also pipe leaks which can result in a discoloration in the floor, or the ceiling below the leak. Leaks in a ceiling will not only cause a high water bill but will weaken ceiling and potentially cause it to fall. Underground leaky pipes can also be culprit. You can see the leaks by looking for any puddles near your home that don't dry up, water streams on sidewalks or driveways that should not be there. Good luck being the Sherlock Holmes of leak detection. If you fearful of performing any of the tasks but would like to know if your home is leaking water. Hiring a professional may be the best option.
