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Detecting The Leak

If you have suddenly discovered you have a water leak in the home, you will need to something fast to control the damage. If you are unsure of where the leak is coming from, you are in a dire situation.

Leaky Flapper Valves

One big reason for your toilet to start leaking is found in sealing flapper that has malfunctioned. This piece is valve made of rubber that is located along the very bottommost part of the toilet tank, and it has a lifting action whenever someone pushes the handle to flush the toilet. If the flapper valve is old, worn out or the seal is cracked and damaged, this can lead to the continued flow of water up into the tank of the toilet bowl in the home, even if you have not recently flushed the toilet. It leads to leaks and a significant waste of water. For homeowners with limited well water supplies, it can lead to no water access until the well can recover from the extra drain.

Issues with Flush Handles

Just as if the rubber valve fails, the handle connected to it can also become loose and not work properly. When the handle is malfunctioning, you can end jiggling the handle to try to keep the toilet water from constantly running, but guess what… that’s not going to work forever and eventually the handle mechanism will require replacement if you plan on getting the issue under control. You might also discover there is a problem with the chain and flush level bar sticking and not working inside the back of the tank. You can try to adjust a small nut in the toilet tank first to secure everything, but if all else fails, new toilet part will be required.

Leaky Faucets

If the rubber washers wear out underneath faucet handles you are pretty much guaranteed to eventually develop water leak. The thing is you don’t have to deal with a leak like this for very long as a repair is a quick fix. You will need the proper tools to do the job and you must turn the water off at the main shut-off valve or just beneath the sink you plan on working on if you have shut valves located hear that sink. You can then remove the handles and no, these are not considered shut off valves even though they stop the flow of water and allow water to flow when you turn them. You can get cheap kits to repair the faucet at your local hardware store.

Leaky Toilets

Yes, toilets do leak and it can end up being environmentally wasteful beyond belief. All the water that runs out of the toilet when it leaks or runs can lead to gallons and gallons of waste water. If you pay a separate water bill, you’ll notice fast if something is amiss. Ironically, many of these leaky issues have fast and easy solutions. It doesn’t cost much at all to make the appropriate fixes to get everything in proper working again.

First, you need to find out, unless it is obvious if you have a leak and where. To do this, take the back lid off the toilet tank and drop a pinch of food coloring in the water. Food coloring is very cheap but instead of this, you can also use dye tabs available at home centers and hardware stores. In about a half hour you can flush the toilet and look around the bowl to see if you note any of the color you added to the water now appearing around the bowl. If the water is stained a leak is evident, if not, then you do not have a leaky toilet.

Leaks with the Overflow Tube

When you examine the water in the back of the toilet tank it should be at a set level when it is full: It should have about .5 inches just beneath what is called the overflow tube. You can make a quick adjustment if you are dealing with overflow issues in this regard… In other words, simply bend the float arm in a downward direction until you can get it to make the appropriate adjustment, but only if you see that level of water is excessively high inside the back tank of the toilet and the water is, therefore, entering the toilet’s overflow tube. There is a screw that you can turn to adjust as well, and this makes the water just beneath the overflow tube.

If you cannot find the cause of the leak or are unable to fix it yourself, Ottawa residents would do well to call on Dr. Pipe Drain and Plumbing Services. These professionals specialize in leak detection in Ottawa and can help resolve the issue quickly.

Give us a call today: 613 791 5777 for a free upfront estimate!

Dr.Pipe