Scrub Hub: How much water — and money — is my leaky faucet sending down the drain?

Sarah Bowman, Indianapolis Star
·4 min read

It's a popular image depicted in movie and television shows: The drip, drip, drip of a faucet. While it may be an excellent cinematic device, it's actually not so great in your home.

What seems like a small leak can add up to a big problem.

In fact, minor leaks account for nearly one trillion gallons of water wasted nationwide each year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That's more than 2,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools — or enough to supply more than 11 million homes.

That's why for this week's Scrub Hub, we are looking at a couple different questions: How to know if you have a leak, how to determine how much water is being wasted, and how to stop the drip, drip, drip?

The one saving grace, according to the EPA, is that minor leaks are often fairly easy to fix. Stopping leaks inside and outside the home can help save valuable water and money all year long.

Answer: Leaks can run, but they can't hide

The average household leak can mean nearly 10,000 gallons of water wasted in a single home every year. That's enough water to do 300 loads of laundry.

In fact, 10% of homes have leaks that waste more than 90 gallons each day, or more than 30,000 gallons over the course of a year.

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While there is no scientific definition of the volume of a faucet drip, the U.S. Geological Survey has created a drip calculator based on measurements of many kitchen and bathroom sink faucets. A couple drips may seem pretty insignificant, but those drops can add up.

This tool is meant to help homeowners get an idea of how much water — and money — is literally going down the drain.

The most common types of leaks found in the home are worn toilet flappers, dripping faucets, leaking showerheads and other tired valves. The EPA offers some guidance on how to look for leaks and find potential culprits. All it takes is just 10 minutes a day over the course of a week, and then you can repeat that once a year. Here are those tips:

  • Check your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is used. If the meter does not read the same, that means there probably is a leak.

  • It's also good to look at your water usage during a colder month such as January or February. If that usage number exceeds 12,000 gallons in a month for a family of four, EPA said it's likely there are some leaks.

  • You also could place a drop of food coloring in the tank at the back of the toilet. If color shows up in the toilet bowl after five to 10 minutes, then you know there's a leak. (Make sure to flush after to avoid staining the tank.)

  • Also with toilets, if the rubber flapper in your toilet tank is more than five years old, it's best to just replace it with a new one. Worn flappers can cause toilets to run or have silent leaks.

  • It's recommended to check faucet washers and gaskets for wear and to then replace them if necessary. Leaky showerhead connections can also cause issues, but usually some tightening will do the trick.

  • Don't forget to look at spots where there could be leaks outside. So check hose spigots for drips and look for broken or missing sprinkler heads if you have an irrigation system.

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Many of the leaks listed above are often very easy to fix, requiring only a few tools and some small pieces of hardware. There are easy-to-follow instructions online for most homeowners to do the fixes themselves, but always feel free to call a professional if plumbing is outside your comfort zone.

Either way, EPA said that these fixes will pay for themselves in water savings. It's estimated that fixing these types of household leaks can save homeowners about 10% on their water bills.

And for fixtures that cannot be repaired, EPA recommends replacing them with products that have earned the WaterSense label. These products are independently certified to use at least 20% less water and perform just as well, if not better, compared to standard models.

If you have any more questions about household leaks, water conservation or any other topic, please ask us! You can submit a question to the Scrub Hub through the Google form below.

Can’t see the form? Click here.

Call IndyStar reporter Sarah Bowman at 317-444-6129 or email at sarah.bowman@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @IndyStarSarah. Connect with IndyStar’s environmental reporters: Join The Scrub on Facebook.

IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: You'll be surprised how much leaky faucets may cost you every year