Beat the Leak: Check. Twist. Replace.

Posted 02/24/11, by Skagit PUD

Drip. Drip. Drip. That sound, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, adds up to more than 10,000 gallons of water wasted in the average home each year due to easy-to-fix leaks. That’s enough water each year to fill a backyard swimming pool.

Nationwide, household leaks add up to more than one trillion gallons lost each year.

You can start saving water today with three simple steps: check, twist, replace.

Check your home for leaks. You can detect silent toilet leaks, a common water-wasting culprit, by adding food coloring to the toilet tank and waiting 10 minutes before flushing. If color appears in the bowl, your toilet has a leak.

Twist and tighten fixture connections with a wrench or apply pipe tape to ensure that fixture connections are sealed tight. If you can’t stop those drips yourself, contact a plumbing professional. For additional savings, twist aerators onto bathroom faucets to use 30 percent less water without noticing a difference in flow.

Replace the fixture. If you just can’t nip that drip, it may be time to replace the fixture. Look for the EPA’s WaterSense label, which indicates that a fixture uses at least 20 percent less water and was independently certified to perform as well as or better than standard models.

For example, replacing your home’s old, inefficient showerheads with WaterSense labeled models lets you shower with power while shrinking your household’s water footprint by 2,300 gallons annually and saving enough energy to run a television all year long.