You can find plenty of tips online for how to cut down on the amount of water you consume in your home. You’re probably already familiar with many of them: take shorter showers, only run dishwasher and laundry machines on full loads, don’t let the water run while you’re brushing your teeth, defrost food in the refrigerator rather than running hot water over it, etc. All of these are good ways to see that you aren’t using more water than necessary.
But your house might be the one doing the water wasting, and you can’t get your house to read online tips and follow them! We’re going to look at some of the places where your house is the source of water waste. With the assistance of our professional plumbers, you can have these problems fixed and your water bills reduced. The environment will thank you as well!
You have a leaking toilet
The leaking toilet is one of the most insidious water wasting sources in a house. It’s often difficult to notice when water is slowly leaking from the tank of the toilet in the bowl, but it’s common and can mean wasting up to 200 gallons of water per day. If you’re unsure if your toilet is leaking, place a few drops of food coloring into the tank, then wait 20 to 30 minutes. If the color has seeped into the bowl, you have a leaking toilet. Arrange to have plumbers repair the toilet right away.
There are hidden pipe leaks
The pipes behind the walls and in the floor can have sprung leaks, which is hard to notice at first. Unfortunately, by the time it becomes apparent, not only will the pipe leaks have wasted large amounts of water, they’ll probably have caused extensive damage as well. According to the EPA WaterSense Program, if water use for a family of four exceeds 12,000 gallons a month, it almost certainly means hidden leaking. To find the hidden leaks, arrange for professional leak detection with our plumbers. We’ll locate the leaks and have them fixed.
You have leaky faucets
A leaky faucet might seem like its minor when it comes to water use. How bad can it be? Well, pretty bad! A faucet that leaks one drip per minute can add up to 3,000 gallons wasted per year. If you have any faucets, showerheads, or other plumbing fixtures that are drip, drip, dripping away, don’t delay at having them repaired. It’s a simple fix that makes a big difference.
You have an aging toilet
Older toilets use 5 to 6 gallons per flush. “Is that a lot?” you ask. Yes! Modern toilets use around 3 gallons per flush, and special low-flow toilet models only use 1.3 gallons per flush. That’s a tremendous difference. Old toilets are more likely to clog and develop even greater water-wasting behavior, so have plumbers remove aging fixtures (more than 20 years old) and put in new ones.
For professional plumbing in Chevy Chase, MD, we’re the service contractor to call on! We pride ourselves on our honesty and integrity, and we look forward to helping you and your family save on water and enjoy better plumbing.
Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the service contractor of choice throughout the Greater Washington Metro area.