Is Your Toilet Running?

Getting to the bottom of a leaky toilet can be perplexing. Depending on the extent of the leak, a warped or poorly fitting flapper can waste up to 200 gallons of water a day and may cost hundreds of dollars a year. That's enough water to fill an average swimming pool 4 times in less than a year.

What's a Flapper?

A flapper is a rubber mechanism in your toilet tank that is the moving part of the flush valve, sealing water into the tank and allowing water to exit the tank when you flush.

Flappers deteriorate over time as a result of in-tank cleaning products and chemicals used by utilities. That's why they need to be checked every year to make sure they're fitting tightly over the flush tube. Otherwise, you end up with a leak that wastes a lot of water and can seriously increase your water bill.

Checking the Leak

To find out where your leak is coming from, or to find out if a leak is being caused by the flapper, put a few drops to one teaspoon of food coloring or a dye tablet into your toilet tank. Wait about 15 minutes. If you end up with color in the toilet bowl, you probably have a leaky flapper that needs to be replaced.

Replacing the Flapper

Flappers are relatively easy to replace, as all of the parts are sitting inside the toilet tank. The first thing you want to do is to shut off the water to your toilet, then flush the toilet to let out the water in the tank.

Then, in most cases, you can easily replace the flapper with one purchased at your local hardware store. It's a good idea to take your original flapper to the store with you to get the correct flapper for your toilet.

If you find that doesn't solve the running toilet issue, call Gold Seal Plumbing for a free quote to repair your toilet and save you money in the long-run.