You open your water bill and see your payment is wildly higher than the previous billing cycle. What does this mean?! Unless you have been really watering your lawn, filling up a pool, or had the grandkids over and they left the hose on after playing in the sprinkler, chances are you have a leak.
Leaks can be in many different forms; large leaks where you can visibly see water running or a small crack where the leak isn’t noticeable. A leak can even be a toilet with an old stopper seal in the tank which lets a slow trickle of water run or a faucet that drips with regularity. Did you know that a sink that drips one drop per second will have a water loss of 4.5 gallons a day?! Regardless of the size, a leak can run a lot of water and therefore wreak havoc on your wallet! Below is a chart showing leak sizes and the average amount of water that can be wasted.
How to check if you have a leak: The fastest and easiest way to confirm if you have leak is to check your register on your meter. Be sure that none of your appliances in your home are currently running (no showering, toilet flushing, dishwasher running, etc.) before you go out to look at your register. On the inside of the register is a leak indicator wheel; the faster it spins, the bigger the leak. If you have a small or slow leak, the wheel will spin but it will be hard to determine if you don’t stop and take a couple minutes to really look at. If you see the indicator spinning, you unfortunately have a leak.
What are the next steps?: First, you’ll want to determine if you want to turn your water off or if the leak is small enough that you would like your water to remain on. You will want to call a plumber to help locate where the leak may be. They can also assist in the repairs.
Once the repairs are complete, you can bring us a copy of the receipt from your repairs and your filled out Leak Adjustment Form. We will then cut your water portion of a bill by 50 percent. Per CWA Policy #3310-V, a leak adjustment can be used once every five years.