Do plumbing leaks in your home have you worried? Wells Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning offers a few tips for detecting plumbing leaks…
You may have a leak if:
- You can hear the continuous sound of water (for instance, a toilet running) when nothing is turned on.
- Your water meter reading changes when you are using water. To check this, mark the indicator on your meter; don’t use any water for an hour and then check the meter. If the indicator moved, you may have a leak.
- Your water bill escalates over a period of weeks or months. Do a month to month comparison of your bills.
- Your walls or floors have wet, spongy, damp or discolored areas where nothing has spilled.
- You can smell foul odors coming from floors or walls near drains or sewers.
- Your foundation cracks, vegetation grows unevenly, or earth shifts for no apparent reason.
- You find warm spots on your floor, particularly on concrete slabs.
Some facts about leaks:
- A 1/8 inch hole in a metal pipe, at 40 pounds per square inch (psi), leaks 2,500 gallons of water in 24 hours.
- A leak the size of a pinhead can waste 360,000 gallons per year, enough to fill 12,000 bathtubs to the overflow mark.
- A leaking toilet can use 90,000 gallons of water in 30 days.
- A dripping faucet/hose bib can lose up to 180 gallons per month or 2160 gallons per year.
- Approximately 1 in every 20 swimming pools has a leak.
- Approximately 1 in every 318 homes has a leak.
- A typical toilet leak at today’s rate can add $500 to a single water bill.
- Using a pool cover prevents about 1000 gallons per month from evaporating.
Do you suspect a leak in your home? If so, give us a call and we’d be happy to send out our leak detection specialists!