Water Leaks

Small household leaks left un-repaired can lead to a large water bill over time.

For example:

• A running toilet, which sometimes cannot be heard by the human ear, could leak between 1,400 to 8,000 gallons per day. This could add up to over 200,000 gallons of water in a 30-day period.
• A running garden hose could leak about 17,000 gallons per day. This could add up to over 500,000 gallons of water in a 30-day period.

Easy Leak Detection

To figure out whether you have a leak inside the house or under the ground between the water meter and house:

• Call the city and set up a time when a person could help you.
• While the city representative is watching the meter, turn off the main valve going into your home and see if the meter stops spinning. If it does, the leak is in your home; if it doesn't, the leak is underground between the meter and your home.
• If the leak is in the home, you could turn off one commode at a time to see if one of them is leaking.
• If you want to check your commodes before calling for help, follow this simple step: put food coloring in the back of your commode and let it sit for about 30 minutes. If the food coloring is in the bowl after 30 minutes, the commode is leaking.