Bob Melvey

Managing BrokerWindermere Real Estate

Fix Your Toilet, Save Water and Money

Leaking toilets are a major cause of high water bills for residential users. Unlike dripping faucets, toilets can silently leak thousands of gallons in a single month, significantly increasing your utility bill. It also wastes water and electricity, which are two increasingly valuable resources in the Pacific Northwest. Why electricity? The water we use is stored in reservoirs located at the highest elevations throughout our communities. Massive electric pumps are required to get the water to these locations.

There are several different ways that a toilet can leak, and many different symptoms to let you know there is a problem. Here's a list of the most common symptoms:

  • The toilet makes sounds when it is not in use.
  • Water is trickling down the sides of the bowl long after it has been flushed.
  • The handle needs to be jiggled or needs to be held down to allow the tank to empty.
  • Water is running over the top of the overflow pipe.
  • Water is dripping from the refill tube after the tank has refilled.

Some leaks are slow enough that they cannot be observed in a matter of seconds, however there are simple and easy-to-do tests that will let you know if you have a problem.

Dye Test

Remove the tank lid and add some instant coffee, powdered fruit drink, food coloring, or other water soluable non-toxic dye to the water. Add enough to dye the water a deep color. (If you are currently using an in-tank colored bowl cleaner, remove it first and flush several times. You can then re-insert it and use the bowl cleaner to dye the water instead.)

Make sure nobody uses the toilet for the next half hour. After 30 minutes, look in the toilet bowl. If the water in the bowl has been colored by the dye in the tank, the toilet is leaking. The next test will help determine if the leak is at the refill valve or the flush valve.

Waterline Test

With a pencil, make a mark right at the waterline inside the tank. Turn off the water supply by turning the shutoff valve leading to the toilet. Again, make the toilet off-limits for the next half hour. After 30 minutes, check to see if the waterline is still at the pencil mark. If the water level is unchanged (and the toilet failed the dye test), the leak is occuring within the refill valve. If the waterline is lower, the leak is occuring due to a faulty flush valve or the valve seal beneath the valve.

To determine if the fault is in the flush valve or valve seal, keep the shutoff valve (supplying water to the toilet) closed overnight. If the tank drains to the level of the flush valve (leaving about an inch of water in the tank), the valve needs to be replaced. If it leaks below this level, it is likely that the valve seal is leaking.

If the leak is occuring within the refill valve, it is usually easier to replace it than to try fixing it. A new refill valve will cost approximately $15 and take about 30 minutes to install. If you don't want to tackle it yourself, call a plumber. The money you save will pay for the plumber's visit over time. Since this refill valve replacement will be well within the plumber's minimum charge, have the plumber check the other toilets and also replace the washers in your bathroom and kitchen faucets during the service call.

If you have a faulty flush valve, you can probably replace this yourself. To make sure you are getting the right replacement, take the old one with you to the hardware store. Faulty valve seals are also easy to replace. A new seal can often be adhered directly over the old one.

When you are done with all your repairs and replacements, check to make sure the thin refill tube still is positioned directly above the overflow pipe. It is often held in place with a metal clip. The purpose of the refill tube is to refill the toilet bowl at the same time that the tank is filling.

Another Water Saver: Low Flow Toilets

Most toilets manufactured today use 1.6 gallons of water per flush, compared to 2.5 gallons in older toilets. A lot of people feel that these newer low flow toilets don't get the job done. The answer to this problem is simple: If one flush is not adequate, flush twice. Even with this occasional second flush, a considerable amount of water and money will be saved by switching to the newer toilets. Another point to consider is that some models are much more effective than others. In my search for the "perfect" low flow toilet, I replaced one of my toilets with a Toto, manufactured in Japan. It "moves the goods" much more reliably than my old water hog . I was told by the plumbing supply salesperson that there is a full-time employee at Toto using soy products to make artificial feces for quality control tests. Wouldn't that look good on a resume?

I replaced another unit with a Caroma, manufactured in Australia. This toilet's claim to fame is that it has two separate flush buttons. The first button is for solids, using the standard low flow amount of 1.6 gallons per flush. The the second is for liquids, using a mere half gallon per flush. Since most flushes only require button number two (or should I say number one?), this toilet uses half as much water as other low flow toilets on the market.

The ultimate in water-saving technology is the waterless urinal. These units have a Teflon-like finish shedding liquids so effectively that no water is required to rinse it. A lighter-than-water liquid floats on top of the pool of urine at its base, providing odorless operation. Although these units aren't ideal for home use, businesses could save money and resources by installing them in new construction buildings.

Strange? Perhaps. Inconvenient? Not at all. Conservation does not have to involve sacrifice. All that's required is an ability to think "out of the box" and a willingness to make slight alterations to our old resource-wasting habits.