I finally looked up how much water my leaky toilet was wasting

I had this toilet in my guest bathroom that made that faint hissing sound every 20 minutes or so. My water bill kept creeping up but I figured it was just summer sprinkler usage. Last week I finally put food coloring in the tank like the internet always says and watched it seep into the bowl without flushing. Found out it was losing about 6 gallons a day just from a worn out flapper. I replaced the part for $8 at the hardware store and the hissing stopped instantly. Now I'm wondering how long that thing was running like that without me noticing. Has anyone else caught a sneaky water waste problem that was way bigger than you thought?

2 comments

2 Comments

samthompson1mo ago

Yeah but water is only getting more expensive per gallon so isn't that short sighted?

grant8261mo ago

Honestly, I gotta say I'm a little skeptical about how serious 6 gallons a day really is. That's like, what, 180 gallons a month? Around here that's maybe a few bucks extra, not even enough to notice on a bill full of AC and sprinkler charges. Replacing a flapper is fine but I've had toilets that hissed for years and my bill never moved enough to care.