Water is not cheap here and it is not getting cheaper. The good news is that most of the waste in an average home comes from a short list of fixable things.
None of these require living uncomfortably. They are maintenance items that quietly stopped working.
- A leaking toilet flapper can waste 200 gallons a day silently
- Aerators are the cheapest fixture upgrade there is
- 140 degrees on a water heater costs money and scalds
- The meter tells you if something is running when it should not be
Find The Silent Toilet Leak First
A worn flapper leaks from the tank into the bowl continuously, and it makes almost no sound. It is the single largest source of invisible waste in most homes.
- 1Put a few drops of food coloring in the tank
- 2Do not flush for 20 to 30 minutes
- 3Check the bowl, any color there means the flapper is leaking
- 4Replace the flapper, it is an inexpensive part
Aerators And Shower Heads
Hard water clogs aerator screens, which people compensate for by running the tap longer. Unscrew them, soak them in vinegar and put them back, or replace them with efficient models that hold pressure while using less.
Set The Water Heater Correctly
Most tanks leave the factory at 140 degrees. Set to 120 you lose nothing usable, cut standby losses, slow scale formation and remove a real scald risk.
Insulating the first few feet of hot pipe out of the tank is another small change that pays back over a season.
Learn To Read Your Meter
Your meter is a leak detector you already own. Shut everything off, note the reading, wait two hours and read it again. Movement means water is going somewhere.
Doing this once a quarter catches irrigation breaks and slab leaks long before the bill does.
Outside The House
- Check irrigation for broken heads and lines after every seasonal change
- Water early in the morning so less evaporates
- Repair hose bibs that drip, they run continuously
- Watch for a green patch in the yard that has no reason to be green
The One Thing Worth Scheduling
A yearly plumbing inspection catches the parts that are on their way out: shutoffs, supply lines, flappers, the water heater anode. It is the difference between planned maintenance and an emergency at 2 a.m.
