Your House -Home & Environment

Your Home and the Environment

Reducing Household Water Use
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Fix That Leaking Toilet

Sometimes a leaking toilet is all too apparent—you have to jiggle the handle to make it stop filling, or water runs into the bowl constantly, or sometimes the toilet will be subject to phantom flushes (the water turns on briefly even if no one has touched the toilet). Other times, the only indication you may have that the toilet is leaking is a high water bill.

It's very simple to test whether water is leaking from the tank into the bowl. After removing any bowl fresheners that color the water, place enough food coloring in the tank water to give it a visible tint. After 30 minutes—make sure no one uses or flushes the toilet during this time—check to see if any of the colored water appears in the bowl. If it does, either the fill valve or the flush valve is leaking.

Flush the toilet and watch what happens inside the tank.

As always, take parts you plan to replace with you to the home center. You may find that rather than replacing parts, it's simple and only slightly more expensive to replace your entire fill or flush valve with one of the readily available complete replacement kits.

Shop carefully for new appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, and water heaters. Many use far less water and/or energy than older models. Sometimes a more expensive but more efficient appliance will be cheaper in the long run because of the savings on your utility bills. Check with your utilities before making a purchase—many offer special deals or rebates when you purchase energy-efficient models.