Residents: Saving money and water are priorities.

Residents

Saving money and water are priorities.

Icon of a person saying HmmHave you ever received an unexpected high water bill and thought to yourself, “Who’s using all the water?”

The answer lies in how you are billed for water.  For every gallon of water that is used intentionally (bathing, drinking, flushing toilets, etc) and unintentionally (leaks, running toilets, etc), you are billed a usage fee by your water provider for water coming into your home and your sewer provider for water exiting your home.  This means that a leak or malfunctioning toilet can draw unnecessary water through your home, for which you will be charged twice.

In addition, many water providers tier their pricing so that water costs more per gallon at higher usage levels. Leaks can increase your monthly usage enough to qualify for a higher priced tier, further increasing your water costs.

Leaking and running toilets can cost you tens, hundreds, even thousands (yes, thousands!) of dollars in water and sewer costs in just one month.

Not sure how to calculate what those leaks and wide-open flappers will cost you? Check out these charts.

An icon of a person saying Oh NoHave you ever asked yourself, “How long has the toilet been running and what’s this going to cost me?”

A wide-open flapper can waste four gallons of water per minute and often go undetected for hours. This is especially costly in situations where a toilet has run for days, or even weeks, before someone notices (which occurs frequently in secondary household bathrooms). Learn how problem flappers are costing you money.

Icon of a person saying I dunnoHave you ever wondered, “Why does my toilet sound like water is running when I haven’t flushed it?”

What you’re hearing is called a phantom flush, the unintended and unseen escape of water from a toilet that is not operating correctly. A phantom flush occurs when water from the tank leaks into the bowl, usually due to a faulty flapper. As the water level inside the tank goes down, the float drops. This opens the fill valve briefly, allowing water to refill the partially empty tank.

If the failure causing the phantom flush is not corrected, a repetitive cycle of leak…fill…leak…fill is created. This cycle can waste 50 – 200 gallons of water every day, making leaking toilets the #1 cause of unintended water use in the home. To detect leaking toilets, water companies recommend the use of dye tablets; however, they are not accurate. Find out why.

In less than a minute you could be on your way to saving money and saving water!!

1)   Remove your toilet tank lid.
2)   Hook the LeakAlertor over the edge of the tank making sure the sensors
are partially submerged in the water (at least 2 inches)
3)   Replace the tank lid.
4)   Pull the Battery Activation Tab.
That’s It!!!

Watch the Installation Video.

Order a LeakAlertor for every bathroom in your house!

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Dye Tablets

5 Reasons why dye tablets are not accurate:

The LeakAlertor takes away the frustration of high water bills, and saves you money! Unlike dye tablets, the LeakAlertor is constantly at work checking for silent leaks, wide-open flappers, and faulty fill valves. It alerts you before you leave the bathroom with a “beep” and blinking LED during the flush cycle.

1) Errors are made in using dye tablets.
Often times, dye tablets are used incorrectly. Some people have mistakenly put the tablet in the toilet bowl rather than the toilet tank…test ruined! Some have put the tablet in the tank, and flushed the toilet immediately…test ruined! Some people drop the tablet in the tank, but then walk away and forget…again, test ruined!

2) Not all toilet leaks are caught by dye tablets.
Dye tablets can only detect one type of leak – a leaking flapper – and only if it’s leaking at the time of the test. However, stuck flush valves, wide-open flappers, phantom flushes, and running toilets are all common leaks not detected by dye tablets.

3) By the time you use a dye tablet your toilet may have already been leaking for weeks, or even months.
Often times, homeowners don’t realize a toilet is leaking because they think a leak should mean there is water on the floor. However, the most common leaks occur either at the flapper, or where the tank and bowl connect. These leaks occur inside the toilet, and are almost always invisible.

4) Intermittent leaks are often missed by dye tablets.
Just because your toilet isn’t leaking at the moment of testing doesn’t mean it wasn’t leaking an hour ago, or won’t be leaking an hour from now. Also, when a flapper first begins to leak, the amount may be too small for dye tablets to detect.

5) It’s not easy to get dye tablets.
Few hardware stores actually sell them, and it’s a hassle to contact your water utility for free tablets. You can buy them on-line, but you have to pay for shipping and wait for them to arrive. Meanwhile, your toilet continues to leak, and your water bill gets even higher!

7 Reasons why the flapper/flush-valve won't close:

1)  The flapper is “stuck” to the overflow pipe.
One observable symptom: it is not bobbing or floating in the water, regardless of the water height, and appears to be partially or fully upright.

2)  The chain is tangled.
A chain link can get stuck on the metal clip or loop over the top of the lever arm. Although an improper chain length causes many of these problems, “slapping” the flush handle can also cause the chain to hang up.

3)  A clogged drain/obstructed pipe produces back pressure through the flush valve seat.
The obstruction doesn’t allow the water level inside the tank to drop low enough for the flapper to seat properly. In this instance, the flapper appears to “hover” in the water above the flush valve seat. A clogged or obstructed drain pipe is the most common reason for toilets to overflow the bowl.

4)  A “universal” replacement flapper is purchased.
When a “universal” replacement flapper is purchased, it does not seat properly on the flush valve. Flappers should be purchased according to the type of flush valve used because universal flappers can leak and/or fail to seat up to 50% of the time.

5)  The flush handle/lever is old, defective, or “sticking” to the inside of the toilet tank.
Old or defective equipment can result in the flapper being held open.

6)  The flapper hinges are weakened and/or degraded.
This allows the flapper to slide to the side and not seat properly on the flush valve. (Note: the water flow from the fill valve can also push the flapper to one side if it is above 60 PSI.)

7)  A flapper’s buoyancy doesn’t become “negative” until the tank completely evacuates.
This does not allow the flapper to seat properly. Although there are several known causes (including toilet design), the most common is a clogged or obstructed drain pipe, which creates back pressure into the tank through the flush valve.

5 Common reasons why wide-open flappers often go undetected:

1)  No one is home to hear it running.
Often times, a person will use the bathroom before they leave their home (or business). In this case, a wide-open flapper would not be detected until the person returned home and realized the problem. This could be hours, or even the following day.

2)  The bathroom is not used frequently.
A wide-open flapper in secondary bathrooms (a finished basement or guest bathroom) can go undetected for days or weeks, wasting a tremendous amount of water and resulting in a high water bill.

3)  Hearing impaired/challenged people may fail to recognize a problem exists.
People with moderate to severe hearing loss may be unable to hear the running water. People afflicted with tinnitus may be unable to distinguish the sound of the running water from their tinnitus.

4)  The sound of the toilet tank refilling is a muted hum.
The initial flush of a toilet is loud, brief, and occurs while the user is still in the bathroom. However, the refilling of the toilet is quieter, prolonged, and typically finishes after the user has left the bathroom. Therefore, the user is unaware when the flapper remains wide-open.

5)  Background noise can easily mask the sound of a wide-open flapper or flush valve.
Examples include central air conditioners and HVAC systems (while the fan is operating); ceiling and window fans; music and/or TV; etc.