The Facts on Leaks:
 |
The average household's leaks can account for more than 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year, or enough water to wash nearly 10 months' worth of laundry. |
| |
Ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day. |
| |
Common types of leaks found in the home include worn toilet flappers, dripping faucets, and leaking showerheads. All are easily correctable. |
| |
Fixing easily corrected household water leaks can save homeowners more than 10 percent on their water bills. |
| |
Keep your home leak-free by repairing dripping faucets, toilet flappers, and showerheads. In most cases, fixture replacement parts don't require a major investment. |
Fix Faucet and Showerhead Leaks
Fix Toilet Leaks
Fix Outdoor Leaks
Leak Detection:
 |
A good method to check for leaks is to examine your winter water use. It’s likely that
a family of four has a serious leak problem if its winter water use exceeds 12,000
gallons per month. |
| |
Check your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, you probably have a leak. |
| |
One way to find out if you have a toilet leak is to place a drop of food coloring in the toilet tank. If the color shows up in the bowl within 15 minutes without flushing, you have a leak. Make sure to flush immediately after this experiment to avoid staining the tank. |
| |
Check out the free water conservation retrofit items the City of Plano offers to residents. |
| |
Check out the water conservation rebates offered to residents by the City of Plano. |
Faucets and Showerheads:
Toilets:
Outdoors:
 |
An irrigation system should be checked each
spring before use to make sure it was not
damaged by frost or freezing. Look for and fix sprinkler heads that have clogged nozzles, sprinkler heads that are blocked by plants or other obstructions, and sprinkler heads that are spraying hard surfaces instead of your landscape. |
| |
An irrigation system that has a leak 1/32nd of an inch in diameter (about the thickness of a dime) can waste about 6,300 gallons of water per month. |
|
To ensure that your in-ground irrigation system is not leaking water, consult with a WaterSense irrigation partner who has passed a certification program focused on water efficiency; click here for a complete list of irrigation partners. |
| |
Check your garden hose for leaks at its connection to the spigot. If it leaks while you run your hose, replace the nylon or rubber hose washer and ensure a tight connection to the spigot using pipe tape and a wrench. |
| |
Do-It-Yourself sprinkler repair |