The toilet is one of the most common culprits for water leaks but its leaks tend to be less noticeable than others. Although water may not be seen or heard running, your toilet may have a silent leak. To determine if your toilet is leaking, follow the steps below:

1. Without flushing, look at the water in the bowl.
2. Still without flushing, remove the lid and look straight down to the bottom of the overflow pipe, a flashlight may help, to make sure there is no water moving. If water is seen moving in step (1) or (2) above, your toilet is likely leaking.
3. Mark the water level in the tank then flush. The water level should come back to the same spot as it was prior to flushing. If the water level does not come back to the same level, your toilet is likely leaking. If everything looks good to this point you can skip to step (4) below.
4. To test for a silent leak, drop a little food coloring into the tank. DO NOT FLUSH! Wait for about 15 to 20 minutes. If the food coloring appears in the toilet bowl, your toilet has a silent leak. It is probably located in or around the flapper valve at the bottom of the tank.

Most toilet leaks occur at the overflow pipe, flapper or tank valve inside the tank. If you saw water moving in step (1), simply replacing the flapper will likely solve the problem. If water could be seen moving at the bottom of the overflow tube in step (2) there may be water siphoning from the fill tube if it is sitting down in the overflow tube. This can be resolved by lifting the fill tube above the water level. OR – it could be that the tank valve is malfunctioning and needs to be replaced. If the water level in step (3) comes back HIGHER than pre-flush, or the food coloring appears in the toilet bowl in step (4), it may indicate the flapper needs to be replaced. If the level comes back LOWER than pre-flush, the tank valve probably needs to be replaced. Once you confirm everything is working properly, make sure the water level in the tank is properly set. The water level should come up to about a half inch or so below the overflow pipe. Adjust the float level control screw, if necessary, so the valve shuts off the water at the lever.

Did you know?
You can use your water meter to help determine how much water your sprinklers use? Follow the steps below to learn how much water it takes to irrigate your property!

1. Turn on your sprinkler system and watch the meter dial move for exactly one minute (for information on how to read your meter, see below). One complete revolution of the sweep hand represents 7.48 gallons.
2. Count the number of revolutions and multiply it by 7.48 to get the amount of gallons used per minute.
3. Now estimate how long you usually leave the sprinkler running.
4. The hundreds of gallons of water going into your lawn and garden each week may come as a surprise to you. Want to find out how much water your lawn and garden really need? Contact our Water Use Efficiency Program at (530)642-4126

No matter what type of irrigation equipment you have—manual sprinklers or a drip system—irrigation leaks are not always visible. If you notice overly green or soggy spots, this may indicate a leak where broken spray heads or underground pipe leaks will be most obvious. Leaks from buried pipes, hoses, or drip lines leaking into sandy or porous soil may not show up right away. Automatic sprinkler and drip systems that generate a hissing sound are likely leaking somewhere. Also, be sure to inspect your sprinkler system regularly for damage from foot traffic or animals.

 Power Outage? Don’t Forget Your Irrigation Timer!
Have you recently experienced power outages at your home? If you have, it could mean your irrigation timer is reset to its default factory settings, which may cause your timers to go off on non-watering days or times. In addition to resetting your clocks and other electronic appliances after a power interruption, don’t forget to check your irrigation timer as well.

A pool or spa leak or a malfunctioning auto-fill device can account for significant water losses. If the water level is too high (hitting the overflow cut out) your auto-fill device may be constantly adding water to the pool, leading to excessive water use. If you suspect your auto-fill device is malfunctioning, contact your local pool specialist right away to avoid unnecessary loss of water. Follow the steps below to check for a leak in your pool:

1. Turn off the automatic fill valve, if applicable.    
2. Place a bucket on a step, weight it down with a brick or rock, and fill with pool water To match the water level in the bucket with the level of the pool.
3. Leave the bucket and pool undisturbed for at least 24 hours. The longer, the better.
4. Compare the water level in the bucket with the water level of the pool. If the water level in the bucket is noticeably higher than the water level in the pool, you may be losing water to a leak. Contact a pool leak detection specialist.