The True Cost of a Running Toilet Typically, a running water toilet will waste thousands of gallons of water per month which translates to approximately $200 unnecessarily tacked onto your monthly water bill-- that's nearly $2,500 dollars a year down your toilet bowl.
Toilet and faucet leaks The most common cause for a high-water bill is running water from your toilet. A continuously running toilet can waste up to 200 gallons a day or more depending on the volume flow down the drain.
Running toilets can have different speeds at which they cost you money. A slow leak can waste 30 gallons a day while keeping you oblivious to the problem. A medium leak, on the other hand, is more noticeable and will go through roughly 250 gallons and $3.30 a day.
The most common source of abnormally high water/sewer bills is leaky plumbing inside the property. More often than not, the source of that leak is a toilet.
The True Cost of a Running Toilet
For minor toilet leaks, your water bill won't be as drastically high; however, it will be higher than normal. A moderate toilet leak will generally waste about 6,000 gallons of water per month and can cost you an additional $70 per month-- $1,000 per year in waste.
What happens if a toilet runs all night? If a toilet runs all night it will waste water and increase your water bill. Excess water can potentially flood your septic tank and lead to failure and saturation of your drain field.
More often than not, the flapper valve could need adjustment, or you may need to replace the toilet fill valve. Both are relatively small fixes that most homeowners can usually handle without calling in a professional plumber or having to remove the toilet and then having to install a new one.
The EPA reports that an average leaking toilet can waste about 200 gallons of water every day.
Landlords have a responsibility to keep renters' toilets in good working order. Faulty parts can run up a tenant's water bill in no time, or dramatically increase expenses on a rental if water is included. Often, toilets leak because of a worn out flapper (sometimes called a “valve seal”).
2. The Flapper Is Leaking and Needs Replacing. Perhaps the most common reason for a running toilet is an old flapper that needs to be replaced. When flappers get old, they don't seal the way they should, and this allows water to pass constantly from the toilet tank into the bowl.
Toilets are flushed multiple times a day in households everywhere but most homeowners are not aware of how much each flush costs. After all, every flush involves the use of water and as homeowners know, it costs to use water. So, what is the cost of a toilet flush? –The average cost in the USA is 1.3 cents per flush.
While everyone knows how annoying it can be to have your toilet constantly run, few people are aware that it may actually be costing them a great deal of money. Toilets that never stop running can lead to much higher water bills, which means this is a situation that you need to correct as soon as possible.
If you live in an apartment or condo, a running toilet may also cause your electric bill to go up. This is because some apartments and condos add a little hot water to the toilet tank to prevent condensation on the tank.
The most common cause for a high water bill is running water from your toilet. A continuously running toilet can waste up to 200 gallons a day or more depending on the volume flow down the drain. This can cause a terrible increase to a family's typical water use, so fix toilet leaks as soon as possible.
1: Toilet is Running (Phantom Flushes)
This problem is almost certainly caused by a bad flapper or flapper seat. The solution is to drain the tank and bowl, check and clean the flapper seat and then replace the flapper if it's worn or damaged.
Thus, a running toilet with a moderate continuous leak could land you with a monthly water bill that is $1,555 more than you expected. A large continuous leak could set you back about $3,110 in a month. As you can see, a simple toilet problem can cost big money if it's not addressed right away.
Like a slowly dripping faucet, a running toilet can waste thousands of gallons of water each day. Worse yet, the issue is, more often than not, indicative of a much larger problem. If your toilet keeps running or is overflowing, contact a plumbing company immediately and schedule running toilet repair services.
A constantly running toilet may waste about eight gallons per hour, or 200 gallons per day. Left unnoticed, a running toilet could waste over 6,000 gallons per month. Depending on the rate you pay for water and sewer, this could cost as much as $70 per month!
Some problems require expensive, complicated repairs. If you encounter these issues frequently, scheduling a replacement will most likely be the most cost-effective solution, as you can save money.
If you've fiddled around with the inside of your toilet and can't get it to work, you should promptly call an expert Roto-Rooter plumber to have a look at it.
Ghost flushing, or phantom flushing, occurs when your toilet tank refills independently without anyone pressing the handle. Water leaks from the tank into the bowl, causing the fill valve to activate periodically to refill the tank. It's similar to your toilet flushing itself, but it's just refilling.
For example, depending on its size, a continuously running toilet can waste between 1,000 and 4,000 gallons of water per day and potentially increase your bill by hundreds and even thousands of dollars. A single faucet that drips just once every second wastes 8.6 gallons per day, or almost 800 gallons per quarter.
An unnoticed phantom flush can become a silent culprit behind a sudden spike in your water bill. If your usage has increased, but your daily habits haven't changed, it's time to investigate whether the toilet is the traitor.