If our water bill is all of a sudden higher than normal, one of the first things you should check is if you have a leaky toilet. Reason is that leaky toilets are quite common and it can be a fairly easy fix.
If these steps reveal that your toilet is NOT leaking – then the next step would be to identify if the leak is coming from a broken pipe somewhere. You can check the information about finding leaks in our article on How Do I Check For Leaks?
Can a toilet leak without you knowing it? – YES – absolutely. Look for these 4 signs…
- To get the toilet to stop running you have to jiggle the handle.
- Your toilet is making sounds even when it hasn’t been used in a while.
- Your toilet tank won’t empty unless you hold the handle down.
- You hear your toilet flushing all on it’s own – aka phantom flushing or ghost flushing.
The easiest steps to take to test for a leaky toilet are…
- Squeeze about 10 drops or so of food coloring into your toilet tank.
- Wait about 30 minutes
- Then check your toilet bowl (not the tank – the bowl). If you see the color dye in the bowl – you’ve got a leak.
How Much Water Can A Toilet Leak In A Month?
It doesn’t seem like a leaky toilet would cost very much but in reality – it could.
On average, a leaky toilet can waste about 200 gallons of water per day. That’s approximately 6000 gallons of water a month.
How Much Does A Leaky Toilet Cost?
In the Atlanta, Georgia area, 6000 gallons of water per month (from a leaky toilet) will cost about $33.00 per month extra that you are paying for that leaky toilet.
What Is A Silent Toilet Leak?
Exactly as it’s called – a “silent toilet leak” is a leak that you do not hear nor would suspect until you get the water bill.
These types of leaks are the most common. There are two reasons that a silent leak would occur:
- A problem with the flapper in the tank
- A broken fill valve
What happens is that the flapper inside the tank is either defective or has deteriorated in some way and as a result is now not creating a tight seal which then allows water to leak from the tank into the bowl.
Another cause of a silent leak may be from a broken fill valve in the tank which would prevent the shut off valve to close so as a result, water would continuously be flowing from the tank into the overflow tube.
Can A Toilet Leak From The Base?
Yes, absolutely. Amongst other areas of the toilet – water an leak from it’s base. The reason water would be leaking from the base of your toilet is most likely that either the wax and/or the floor flange have deteriorated if they have been there long enough. If your toilet is not that old, then either one of these products could have been defected or the installation of the toilet was not done properly.
You can read more about this problem and how to correct it in our article titled “Can A Toilet Leak From The Base?”. If you are having problems with leaky toilets for any number of reasons – we recommend you contact a professional plumber to assess and correct the problem.
If you have any questions about toilet leaks, call Atlantis Plumbing today at 770-505-8570. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.